contrariant

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /kənˈtrɛəriənt/ UK /kənˈtrɛəriənt/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
opposed or contrary; inclined to disagree

His contrariant temper made committee meetings drag on endlessly.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · opposed or contrary;... contrary opposed contradictory antagonisticdissentingperverse

Opposites

agreeable compliant concordant

Word family

Related forms contrary contrariness contrarious contrariwise

Etymology

From Old French contrariant, present participle of contrarier ('to oppose, contradict'), from Late Latin contrariare, from Latin contrarius ('opposite'), from contra ('against').

contrarius Latin contra Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# contrariant

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /kənˈtrɛəriənt/
**IPA (UK):** /kənˈtrɛəriənt/

## Meanings
1. opposed or contrary; inclined to disagree

## Examples
- His contrariant temper made committee meetings drag on endlessly.

## Synonyms
- contrary
- opposed
- contradictory
- antagonistic
- dissenting
- perverse

## Antonyms
- agreeable
- compliant
- concordant

## Related Forms
- contrary
- contrariness
- contrarious
- contrariwise

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: contrarius
- Root: contra

## Etymology
From Old French contrariant, present participle of contrarier ('to oppose, contradict'), from Late Latin contrariare, from Latin contrarius ('opposite'), from contra ('against').

## AI Etymology
Contrariant is from Old French contrariant, present participle of contrarier ('to oppose, contradict'), from Late Latin contrariare, from Latin contrarius ('opposite'), from contra ('against'). The ancestry passes through Latin contrarius and Latin contra. The prefix contra contributes the sense of opposition or againstness, helping to explain the word's surface structure. In present use as an adjective, it means "opposed or contrary; inclined to disagree", keeping the historical formation close to the word's ordinary semantic work. Related words include contrary, contrariness, contrarious, and contrariwise.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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