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on the contrary

on the con·trar·y
O o

Transcription

    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • UK Pronunciation
    • UK IPA
    • [on, awn stressed th ee kon-trer-ee]
    • /ɒn, ɔn stressed ði ˈkɒn trɛr i/
    • /ɒn ðə ˈkɒn.trə.ri/
    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [on, awn stressed th ee kon-trer-ee]
    • /ɒn, ɔn stressed ði ˈkɒn trɛr i/

Definitions of on the contrary words

  • adjective on the contrary opposite in nature or character; diametrically or mutually opposed: contrary to fact; contrary propositions. 1
  • adjective on the contrary opposite in direction or position: departures in contrary directions. 1
  • adjective on the contrary being the opposite one of two: I will make the contrary choice. 1
  • adjective on the contrary unfavorable or adverse. 1
  • adjective on the contrary perverse; stubbornly opposed or willful. 1
  • noun plural on the contrary something that is contrary or opposite: to prove the contrary of a statement. 1
See all 17 definitions of on the contrary

Information block about the term

Origin of on the contrary

First appearance:

before 1200
One of the 9% oldest English words
1200-50; Middle English contrarie < Anglo-French < Latin contrārius. See contra1, -ary

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for On the contrary

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Full grammatical hierarchy of On the contrary

on the contrary popularity

A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 92% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.
Most Europeans know this English word. The frequency of it’s usage is somewhere between "mom" and "screwdriver".

on the contrary usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Synonyms for on the contrary

adv on the contrary

  • abnormally — not normal, average, typical, or usual; deviating from a standard: abnormal powers of concentration; an abnormal amount of snow; abnormal behavior.
  • again — You use again to indicate that something happens a second time, or after it has already happened before.
  • antagonistically — acting in opposition; opposing, especially mutually.
  • antithetically — in an antithetical way
  • asymmetrically — not identical on both sides of a central line; unsymmetrical; lacking symmetry: Most faces are asymmetric.

conj on the contrary

  • instead of — as a substitute or replacement; in the place or stead of someone or something: We ordered tea but were served coffee instead.

adverb on the contrary

  • contrary — Ideas, attitudes, or reactions that are contrary to each other are completely different from each other.
  • dissimilarly — In a dissimilar way; differently.
  • incompatibly — In an incompatible manner.
  • negatively — expressing or containing negation or denial: a negative response to the question.

conjunction on the contrary

  • instead — as a substitute or replacement; in the place or stead of someone or something: We ordered tea but were served coffee instead.
  • oppositely — situated, placed, or lying face to face with something else or each other, or in corresponding positions with relation to an intervening line, space, or thing: opposite ends of a room.
  • or — a Boolean operator that returns a positive result when either or both operands are positive.
All 31 Synonyms of on the contrary

Antonyms for on the contrary

conjunction on the contrary

  • neither — not either; not the one or the other: Neither statement is true.
  • nor — a Boolean operator that returns a positive result when both operands are negative.
All 2 Antonyms of on the contrary

See also

Matching words

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