contrariness

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈkɑntrɛrinəs/ UK /kənˈtrɛərinəs/ See IPA manual

noun

Meanings

1

noun
the quality of being perversely opposed or difficult

Out of sheer contrariness, she ordered the one dish nobody else wanted.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the quality of being... perversity obstinacy waywardnesscussednesswrongheadednessrecalcitrance

Opposites

agreeableness complianceamenability

Word family

Related forms contrary contrarily contrariwise contrariant

Etymology

From contrary (from Latin contrarius 'opposite', from contra 'against') plus the noun-forming suffix -ness.

contrarius Latin contra Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

# contrariness

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** ˈkɑntrɛrinəs
**IPA (UK):** kənˈtrɛərinəs

## Meanings
1. the quality of being perversely opposed or difficult

## Examples
- Out of sheer contrariness, she ordered the one dish nobody else wanted.

## Synonyms
- perversity
- obstinacy
- waywardness
- cussedness
- wrongheadedness
- recalcitrance

## Antonyms
- agreeableness
- compliance
- amenability

## Related Forms
- contrary
- contrarily
- contrariwise
- contrariant

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

## Etymology
From contrary (from Latin contrarius 'opposite', from contra 'against') plus the noun-forming suffix -ness.

## AI Etymology
Contrariness is from contrary (from Latin contrarius 'opposite', from contra 'against') plus the noun-forming suffix -ness. 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; the suffix -ness marks an abstract noun of quality or state, so the English form is shaped by recognizable word formation as well as by its inherited or borrowed base. In present use as a noun, it means "the quality of being perversely opposed or difficult", keeping the historical formation close to the word's ordinary semantic work. Related words include contrary, contrarily, contrariwise, and contrariant.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

markdown

contrariness

Meanings

Thesaurus

Etymology

Topics

Keyboard Shortcuts

General

Send feedback