contradict

verb

con·tra·dict ˌkän-trə-ˈdikt

contradicted; contradicting; contradicts

Synonyms of contradict next

transitive verb

: to assert the contrary of : take issue with

contradict a rumor

She contradicted her brother's account of what happened.

: to imply the opposite or a denial of

Your actions contradict your words.

The evidence contradicts his testimony.

contradictable

ˌkän-trə-ˈdik-tə-bəl

adjective

contradictor

ˌkän-trə-ˈdik-tər

noun

Choose the Right Synonym for contradict

deny, gainsay, contradict, contravene mean to refuse to accept as true or valid.

deny implies a firm refusal to accept as true, to grant or concede, or to acknowledge the existence or claims of.

denied the charges

gainsay implies disputing the truth of what another has said.

no one can gainsay her claims

contradict implies an open or flat denial.

her account contradicts his

contravene implies not so much an intentional opposition as some inherent incompatibility.

laws that contravene tradition

Example Sentences

He contradicted the charges of his critics. My sister doesn't like being contradicted. The mayor's actions in office contradicted the promises he made during the campaign.

Recent Examples on the Web Mozilla did not need to dig very deep to find flaws, saying that many apps' privacy labels openly contradict their public privacy policies. —

Ron Amadeo, Ars Technica, 23 Feb. 2023 Jaramillo believes that these results contradict global paleoclimatic models that predict a collapse of Neotropical vegetation due to heat stress. —

Pablo Correa, Discover Magazine, 8 Dec. 2022 Sharkey’s experience of watching the genetics contradict his morphological analysis is becoming a common one. —

Brooke Jarvis, WIRED, 10 Nov. 2022 But Honolulu and its Board of Water Supply filed a state court case in 2020 with allegations that specifically contradict this uncertainty. —

R.a. Moss, WSJ, 2 Nov. 2022 Araiza’s lawyer, Kerry Armstrong, has said the lawsuit’s allegations are false and that witnesses at the party contradict its claims. —

Colleen Shalby, Los Angeles Times, 1 Sep. 2022 Data needs a single source of truth, not a fragmented tech stack of similar datasets, which often contradict each other. —

Bill Bruno, Forbes, 15 Aug. 2022 Claims like these don’t contradict your account or put your sister in the right. —

Kwame Anthony Appiah, New York Times, 6 Feb. 2023 But Borg said that does not contradict the analysis, which was based on sales not players. —

Annie Martin, Orlando Sentinel, 15 Dec. 2022 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'contradict.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.