contrarian
/kənˈtrɛːrɪən
/noun
A person who opposes or rejects popular opinion, especially in stock exchange dealing: it has become fashionable to be a stock-market contrarian...
- Since then, bear market losses and dashed hopes have taught them to be more skeptical - which to bullish contrarians just makes this rally all the more credible.
- Overly bullish sentiment or complacency is regarded as bearish by contrarians.
- This guarantees that, except for rare contrarians like Ron Paul, all politicians that come before the voters every election year are going to be pushing more and more programs and handouts.
adjective
Opposing or rejecting popular opinion or current practice: the comment came more from a contrarian disposition than moral conviction...
- Yet, it points to a tendency - I'll put it as weakly as that - toward re-marketing tired conservative shibboleths as funky new contrarian understandings.
- We've always valued such marginalization because it leads to contrarian positions - at their best, they lead to theories more original, perspectives more perceptive.
- Many of the Deanies I spoke to in Iowa referred to his candor and contrarian stances in terms that would be familiar to Minnesotans who felt similar ties to Paul Wellstone or Jesse Ventura.
Derivatives
contrarianism
- A streak of dour contrarianism is evident in Mr. Jackson's alternative view of economics, which, though seemingly well-developed, rejects as ‘bilge’ elementary definitions that the corporate world takes for granted.
- In this alone it stands as a triumph of contrarianism.
- This is all a bit strange because Lévy is known in France for his contrarianism.