contradictory

Borrowed from Late Latin contradictorius, from Latin contradico.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌkɒntɹəˈdɪkt(ə)ɹi/
• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˌkɑntɹəˈdɪktəɹi/
• Hyphenation: con‧tra‧dic‧to‧ry

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contradictory (comparative more contradictory, superlative most contradictory)

1. That contradicts something, such as an argument.
   • 2004, Robert Zeuschner, “Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism”, in Asian Thought: Traditions of India, China, Japan & Tibet‎, volume I, Echo Point Books & Media, LLC, published 2017, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 225:

     This wide variety of genuinely contradictory holy sutras generated a serious problem in later Chinese and Japanese Buddhism. In the early period the Chinese and Japanese did not know that there were so many schools of Buddhism which disagreed with one another. Chinese and Japanese Buddhists assumed that every single Buddhist sutra was the actual words of the Buddha himself. As a result, Chinese Buddhists had to come up with some kind of explanation for the contradictory claims and assertions apparently made by the same holy person. The Chinese T’ien-t’ai school decided that the texts were spoken by the Buddha but tailored to different audiences of vastly different capabilities and insight.

2. That is itself a contradiction.
   • 1983, Richard Ellis, The Book of Sharks, Knopf, →ISBN, page 149:

     Our attitudes toward sharks are contradictory. We fear them and yet we seek them out.

3. That is diametrically opposed to something.
   • 1715 January 24 (Gregorian calendar), Joseph Addison, “The Free-holder: No. 7. Thursday, January 13. [1715.]”, in The Works of the Right Honourable Joseph Addison, Esq; […], volume IV, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], published 1721, →OCLC:

     Schemes […] contradictory to common sense.

4. Mutually exclusive.
5. Tending to contradict or oppose, contrarious.

• opposite
• (mutually exclusive) incompatible

• contradict
• contradiction
• contradictorious

contradictory (plural contradictories)

1. (logic) Either of a pair of propositions, that cannot both be true or both be false.
   • 2001, Mark Sainsbury, chapter 1, in Logical Forms — An Introduction to Philosophical Logic, 2nd edition, Blackwell Publishing, →ISBN, §4, page 20:

     If one proposition is the negation of another, it follows trivially from the definition that the two propositions are contradictories. The converse does not hold. Two propositions can be contradictories without either being the negation of the other. For example:
        3) John is more than six feet tall
     and
        4) John is either exactly six feet tall or else less than six feet tall
     are contradictories, but neither is the negation of the other. Negation is one way, but not the only way, of forming a contradictory.

• negation

• oxymoron
• paradox