noun
Freq #521555
Meanings
-
1
noun
a distinction made by directly contrasting one thing with another
The essay defines civic freedom in contradistinction to freedom from all restraint.
Thesaurus
Synonyms
Opposites
Word family
Derived forms
contradistinctivecontradistinctively
Etymology
Formed in English from contra- ("against, opposite") + distinction. Its usual construction, in contradistinction to, signals that a difference is being established specifically through contrast with another case.