contradictcon‧tra‧dict /ˌkɒntrəˈdɪkt $ ˌkɑːn-/ ●●○ AWL verb 
Deborah opened her mouth to contradict, but closed it again. Dad just can’t bear to be contradicted. The article flatly contradicts their claims.2[transitive] if one statement, story etc contradicts another, the facts in it are different so that both statements cannot be true: The witness statements contradict each other and the facts remain unclear.3contradict yourself to say something that is the opposite of what you said before: Within five minutes he had contradicted himself twice.
WORD ORIGINcontradict
Origin:
1500-1600 Latin past participle of contradicere, from contra- ( ➔ CONTRA-) + dicere ‘to say’VERB TABLE
contradict
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | contradict |
| he, she, it | contradicts | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | contradicted |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have contradicted |
| he, she, it | has contradicted | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had contradicted |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will contradict |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have contradicted |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am contradicting |
| he, she, it | is contradicting | |
| you, we, they | are contradicting | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was contradicting |
| you, we, they | were contradicting | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been contradicting |
| he, she, it | has been contradicting | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been contradicting |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be contradicting |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been contradicting |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Heating the water to 150° F kills bacteria but contradicts efforts to save energy.
- O'Brien's later statement contradicted what he had told Somerville police on the night of the murder.
- Recent experiments seem to contradict earlier results.
- Smith gave an account that contradicted the woman's tearful testimony last week.
- The two newspaper reports totally contradict each other.
- Also, much of the advice found in one book directly contradicts that found in another.
- Implied terms can thus supplement express rules, or introduce new rules, but can not directly contradict an existing rule.
- It would hearten the many feminists who crowded the church that night without contradicting the teachings of the magisterium.
- Something was wrong; what I read contradicted the sight of these travelers.
- There is no evidence or testimony contradicting those statements.
- This would contradict the open-ended accessibility that is the hallmark of unit trusts.
- To create a more original effect well-known phrases and sayings can be contrasted with others which contradict them.
- What he must do is to formulate an assertion which contradicts our own, and give us his instruction for testing it.
Longman Language Activatorwhen one statement, idea etc makes a different one seem untrue
if one statement or fact contradicts another one, it is so different that it makes the other one seem untrue or impossible: · The two newspaper reports totally contradict each other.· Recent experiments seem to contradict earlier results.· O'Brien's later statement contradicted what he had told Somerville police on the night of the murder.
very different from each other - use this especially when two things should be the same: · At first we received conflicting information about the number of children who were seriously hurt.· Researchers tend to offer conflicting advice on which vitamin and mineral supplements might keep us healthy.
if a statement, story, fact etc is inconsistent with what you expect or already know of the situation, it is completely different from it: · IBM said that the £37 million payment had been made in a way that was inconsistent with company policy.· Wolff, an economics professor at New York University, said that the results were inconsistent with all the other data they had.
a small fact or detail that is different from what you expected, especially one that makes you think that something is wrong: · Whenever he works out his accounts there are always discrepancies.discrepancy between: · Apparently there were discrepancies between police reports taken from the same witnesses at different times.discrepancy in: · She always refused to discuss the discrepancies in her biography.
if something goes against what you think or what someone has told you, it is different from the opinions, attitudes etc that you have learnt: · What the teacher was saying went against everything his parents had taught him.· She couldn't explain what had made her go against her upbringing and character and behave so recklessly.
if a statement, story, fact etc is at odds with another, the two things are so completely different that one of them must be untrue: · John Nelson has been re-examining the evidence, and his conclusions are greatly at odds with the story so far.· The government decision to raise taxes was at odds with their policies on inflation.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY The article flatly contradicts their claims. The witness statements contradict each other and the facts remain unclear.COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB
The article flatly contradicts their claims. The witness statements contradict each other and the facts remain unclear.· Implied terms can thus supplement express rules, or introduce new rules, but can not directly contradict an existing rule.· Also, much of the advice found in one book directly contradicts that found in another.· This directly contradicted statements made by both Reagan and Weinberger.· This is most curious, considering that in the same column he seems to directly contradict this very point.
· It is also true that the two main Opposition parties have energy policies which are flatly contradicted by their environmental policies.· Since the trauma of 1929, few people contest this need, although it flatly contradicts the tradition of economic liberalism.
NOUN· The result was disappointing because it so patently contradicted his claim to be a truly national leader.· Notice that the name Makah has a nasal consonant-thus appearing to contradict the claim that these languages have no nasals.
· The experimental evidence does not contradict this view, although it doesn't support it very strongly either.· There is no evidence or testimony contradicting those statements.· Their ideologies create enclosed belief-systems that can not be affected by evidence which contradicts them.· Mrs Clinton has said she had no role in that phase of the matter, and no evidence contradicts her.· However, the evidence contradicts this.· For this reason, evidence contradicting previously accepted beliefs is difficult to believe and to write about.· Further evidence contradicting the traditional symmetric rift valley model comes from observations of their morphology and surface structure.· Research evidence contradicts the commonly held belief that neonates do not perceive pain. 2.
· Villagers' stories contradict each other.· After all, the two clauses appear to contradict each other.
· Pavlov's allegations contradicted earlier official statements which portrayed the currency confiscation as an attack on black marketeers and excess money supply.· There is no evidence or testimony contradicting those statements.· The brief contradicts statements made by Philip Morris executives in congressional hearings, the lobbyist said.· This directly contradicted statements made by both Reagan and Weinberger.
· The experimental evidence does not contradict this view, although it doesn't support it very strongly either.· They do not necessarily contradict the view that for more serious crimes women are less severely treated then men.
VERB· For this reason, it is important to examine those societies that appear to contradict much of scientific and commonsensical explanation.· Notice that the name Makah has a nasal consonant-thus appearing to contradict the claim that these languages have no nasals.· The fact that there were generally fluctuations in rated subjective risk might appear to contradict zero-risk theory.· Yet at times kungfu appears to contradict itself, professing one thing while seeming to do the opposite.· After all, the two clauses appear to contradict each other.· The survey appears to contradict motor industry claims that customers still rate high performance as one of the most desirable attributes.
· Nobody in his camp seemed willing to contradict him.· Mitchell was by nature cautious with people although the island seemed to contradict this tendency in him.· The evidence, however, seems to contradict this.· This is most curious, considering that in the same column he seems to directly contradict this very point.· All this seems to contradict the expectation of the manipulation theorists.· Have you had lots of instruction with each new teacher seeming to contradict the one before?· Yet these are feelings which seem to contradict the universalist, rational aspirations of liberalism.· This would seem to contradict, however, the notion of major transgressions being the much-delayed after-effects of an orogeny.
PHRASES FROM THE ENTRY
- During questioning, Robinson contradicted himself several times.
- As far as restarting the musical life in Vienna was concerned, we had the problem that the occupying forces often contradicted each other.
- Could you try to contradict yourself a little less?
- I can tell if some one contradicts themselves 39.
- It imputes to Proust's text the ability to contradict itself without intervention.
- Not, does it matter if the writer contradicts himself; but, does it matter what colour they are anyway?
- To Greg she didn't seem to be making much sense - saying whatever came first into her head and contradicting herself.
- Where they contradicted each other in inessential points there might be room for debate and uncertainty.
- You couldn't help but contradict yourself from time to time.
WORD FAMILYnouncontradictionadjectivecontradictoryverbcontradict
1[intransitive, transitive] to disagree with something, especially by saying that the opposite is true: Deborah opened her mouth to contradict, but closed it again. Dad just can’t bear to be contradicted. The article flatly contradicts their claims.2[transitive] if one statement, story etc contradicts another, the facts in it are different so that both statements cannot be true: The witness statements contradict each other and the facts remain unclear.3contradict yourself to say something that is the opposite of what you said before: Within five minutes he had contradicted himself twice.