contrast

A2 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈkɒntɹast/ UK /ˈkɒntɹɑːst/ See IPA manual

Freq #10982

Meanings

1

noun
A clear difference between two or more things when you compare them.

Israel is a country of many contrasts.
2

verb
To compare two things in order to show how they differ.

The teacher contrasted the best student's work with the weakest student's.
3

verb
To be clearly different when placed or seen together.

The bright foreground strongly contrasts with the dark background.
4

noun
The difference in brightness or color that makes things easy to tell apart.

The red and the orange don't have much contrast, so I can hardly tell them apart.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a clear difference between... difference

2 verb · to compare two things in... compare differentiate

Opposites

liken

Word family

Forms contrastedcontrastingcontrasts

Derived forms contrastablecontrastingcontrastivecontrastlesscontrastmentcontrastyhysterosalpingo-contrast-sonographymetacontrastmulticontrastnoncontrastparacontrastpostcontrast

Related forms compare

Etymology

From French contraster, from Italian contrastare (“to resist", "to withstand”), from Vulgar Latin *contrāstāre, from Latin contrā (“against”) + stō, stāre (“to stand”).

contraster French contrastare Italian contrā Latin

View etymology graph ->

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# contrast

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A2
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈkɒntɹast/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈkɒntɹɑːst/
**Frequency rank:** 10982

## Meanings
1. A clear difference between two or more things when you compare them.
2. To compare two things in order to show how they differ.
3. To be clearly different when placed or seen together.
4. The difference in brightness or color that makes things easy to tell apart.

## Examples
- Israel is a country of many contrasts.
- The teacher contrasted the best student's work with the weakest student's.
- The bright foreground strongly contrasts with the dark background.
- The red and the orange don't have much contrast, so I can hardly tell them apart.

## Antonyms
- liken

## Derived Forms
- contrastable
- contrasting
- contrastive
- contrastless
- contrastment
- contrasty
- hysterosalpingo-contrast-sonography
- metacontrast
- multicontrast
- noncontrast
- paracontrast
- postcontrast

## Related Forms
- compare

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: contraster
- Root: contrastare
- Root: contrā
- Affix: contra- - against

## Etymology
From French contraster, from Italian contrastare (“to resist", "to withstand”), from Vulgar Latin *contrāstāre, from Latin contrā (“against”) + stō, stāre (“to stand”).

## AI Etymology
contrast is a noun and verb. It is from French contraster, from Italian contrastare (“to resist", "to withstand”), from Vulgar Latin *contrāstāre, from Latin contrā (“against”) + stō, stāre (“to stand”). Historical forms in the chain include contraster (French), contrastare (Italian), and contrā (Latin). Current senses include a clear difference between two or more things when you compare them, to compare two things in order to show how they differ, and to be clearly different when placed or seen together. Derived forms include contrastable, contrasting, contrastive, contrastless, and contrastment. Related words include compare.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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contrast

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