| / English Dictionary |
CONTRADICTION
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The speech act of contradicting someone
Example:
he spoke as if he thought his claims were immune to contradiction
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("contradiction" is a kind of...):
negation (the speech act of negating)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "contradiction"):
self-contradiction (contradicting yourself)
Derivation:
contradict (deny the truth of)
Sense 2
Meaning:
(logic) a statement that is necessarily false
Example:
the statement 'he is brave and he is not brave' is a contradiction
Synonyms:
contradiction; contradiction in terms
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("contradiction" is a kind of...):
falsehood; falsity; untruth (a false statement)
Domain category:
logic (the branch of philosophy that analyzes inference)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "contradiction"):
antinomy (a contradiction between two statements that seem equally reasonable)
paradox ((logic) a statement that contradicts itself)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Opposition between two conflicting forces or ideas
Classified under:
Nouns denoting relations between people or things or ideas
Hypernyms ("contradiction" is a kind of...):
oppositeness; opposition (the relation between opposed entities)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "contradiction"):
dialectic (a contradiction of ideas that serves as the determining factor in their interaction)
Context examples:
As he quitted the room, Elizabeth felt how improbable it was that they should ever see each other again on such terms of cordiality as had marked their several meetings in Derbyshire; and as she threw a retrospective glance over the whole of their acquaintance, so full of contradictions and varieties, sighed at the perverseness of those feelings which would now have promoted its continuance, and would formerly have rejoiced in its termination.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
Emma knew this was too true for contradiction, and therefore said nothing.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
Ruth's mind was quick, and her disapproval of her lover's views was buttressed by the contradiction she found in his contention.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
Her own views of every question, and her correction of everything that was said to which she was opposed, Miss Dartle insinuated in the same way: sometimes, I could not conceal from myself, with great power, though in contradiction even of Steerforth.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
Her tenderness for her friend seemed rather the first feeling of her heart; but that at such a moment was allowable; and once she gave her lover a flat contradiction, and once she drew back her hand; but Catherine remembered Henry's instructions, and placed it all to judicious affection.
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
But her present forebodings she feared would experience no similar contradiction.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
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