Meanings
nouncontradiction (countable and uncountable, plural contradictions)
plural contradictions
- countableuncountableThe act of contradicting.
His contradiction of the proposal was very interesting.
- countableA statement that contradicts itself, i.e., a statement that claims that the same thing is true and that it is false at the same time and in the same senses of the terms.
There is a contradiction in what you say: she can't be both married and single.
1 more example
There is a contradiction in Clarence Page's statement that a woman should have the right to choose and decide for herself whether to have an abortion and at the same time she should not have that right.
Synonyms: oxymoron
- countableA logical inconsistency among two or more elements or propositions.
Marx believed that the contradictions of capitalism would lead to socialism.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA statement that contradicts itself, i.e., a statement that claims that the same thing is true and that it is false at the same time and in the same senses of the terms.
Similar
nounA proposition that is false for all values of its propositional variables or Boolean atoms.
Similar
↯⇒⇐⊥↮※
antonym(s) of “proposition that is false for all values of its variables”
Opposite
More synonyms by meaning
noun(logic) a statement that is necessarily false
Similar
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latincontrādictiō
- Old Frenchcontradiction
- Middle Englishcontradiccioun
- Englishcontradiction
From Middle English contradiccioun, contradiction, from Old French contradiction, from Latin contrādictiō, from contrādīcō (“speak against”).
More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ἀντιλογία
- ἀντιλογία (antilogía)act of contradicting
Arabic تَنَاقُض
- تَنَاقُض (tanāquḍ)the logical incompatibility of opposing elements
Bulgarian отрицание, противоречие
- отрицание (otricanie)act of contradicting
- противоречие (protivorečie)act of contradicting
- противоречие (protivorečie)statement that contradicts itself
- противоречие (protivorečie)the logical incompatibility of opposing elements
Catalan contradicció, contradicció
- contradiccióact of contradicting
- contradiccióstatement that contradicts itself
Chinese Mandarin 反对, 反驳
- 反对 (fǎnduì)act of contradicting
- 反驳 (fǎnbó)act of contradicting
- 矛盾 (máodùn)statement that contradicts itself
- 矛盾 (máodùn)the logical incompatibility of opposing elements
Czech rozpor, spor
- rozporstatement that contradicts itself
- sporstatement that contradicts itself
- kontradikceproposition that is false for all values of its variables
Danish modsigelse, selvmodsigelse
- modsigelseact of contradicting
- selvmodsigelsestatement that contradicts itself
- paradoksstatement that contradicts itself
Dutch tegenspraak, contradictie
- tegenspraakact of contradicting
- contradictieact of contradicting
Finnish kiistäminen, ristiriita
- kiistäminenact of contradicting
- ristiriitastatement that contradicts itself
- ristiriitathe logical incompatibility of opposing elements
- ristiriitaproposition that is false for all values of its variables
French contradiction, contradiction
- contradictionact of contradicting
- contradictionstatement that contradicts itself
- contradictionthe logical incompatibility of opposing elements
- contradictionproposition that is false for all values of its variables
German Widerspruch, Widerspruch
- Widerspruchact of contradicting
- Widerspruchstatement that contradicts itself
- Gegensatzthe logical incompatibility of opposing elements
- Widerspruchthe logical incompatibility of opposing elements
Greek αντίκρουση, αντίφαση
- αντίκρουση (antíkrousi)act of contradicting
- αντίφαση (antífasi)statement that contradicts itself
- αντινομία (antinomía)the logical incompatibility of opposing elements
Hebrew סתירה
- סתירה (stirá)statement that contradicts itself
Hindi असंगति, विसंगति
- असंगति (asaṅgti)act of contradicting
- विसंगति (visaṅgti)act of contradicting
- असंगति (asaṅgti)statement that contradicts itself
- असंगति (asaṅgti)the logical incompatibility of opposing elements
Hungarian ellentmondás, ellenkezés
- ellentmondásact of contradicting
- ellenkezésact of contradicting
- ellentmondásstatement that contradicts itself
- önellentmondásstatement that contradicts itself
Indonesian percanggahan, kontradiksi
- percanggahanact of contradicting
- kontradiksiact of contradicting
Irish bréagnú
- bréagnúact of contradicting
Italian contraddizione, contraddizione
- contraddizioneact of contradicting
- contraddizionestatement that contradicts itself
- contraddizionethe logical incompatibility of opposing elements
- contraddizioneproposition that is false for all values of its variables
Japanese 反論, 反駁
- 反論 (hanron)act of contradicting
- 反駁 (hambaku)act of contradicting
- 矛盾 (mujun)statement that contradicts itself
- 矛盾 (mujun)the logical incompatibility of opposing elements
- 恒偽式 (kōgishiki)proposition that is false for all values of its variables
- 矛盾式 (mujun shiki)proposition that is false for all values of its variables
Korean 모순, 모순
- 모순 (mosun)act of contradicting
- 모순 (mosun)statement that contradicts itself
- 모순 (mosun)the logical incompatibility of opposing elements
Latin contrādictiō, repugnantia
- contrādictiōact of contradicting
- repugnantiaact of contradicting
- obloquiumact of contradicting
- oblocutioact of contradicting
- obloquiumstatement that contradicts itself
- oblocutiostatement that contradicts itself
- obloquiumthe logical incompatibility of opposing elements
- oblocutiothe logical incompatibility of opposing elements
- obloquiumproposition that is false for all values of its variables
- oblocutioproposition that is false for all values of its variables
Latvian pretruna, pretruna
- pretrunaact of contradicting
- pretrunastatement that contradicts itself
Lithuanian prieštaravimas
- prieštaravimasact of contradicting
Norwegian Bokmål motsigelse
- motsigelseact of contradicting
Polish sprzeczność, antynomia
- sprzecznośćstatement that contradicts itself
- antynomiastatement that contradicts itself
- sprzecznośćthe logical incompatibility of opposing elements
- antynomiathe logical incompatibility of opposing elements
- sprzecznośćproposition that is false for all values of its variables
Portuguese contradição, contradição
- contradiçãoact of contradicting
- contradiçãostatement that contradicts itself
- contradiçãothe logical incompatibility of opposing elements
- contradiçãoproposition that is false for all values of its variables
Romanian contradicție, contrazicere
- contradicțieact of contradicting
- contrazicereact of contradicting
- contradicțiestatement that contradicts itself
- contradicțiethe logical incompatibility of opposing elements
Russian противоре́чие, противоре́чие
- противоре́чие (protivoréčije)act of contradicting
- противоре́чие (protivoréčije)statement that contradicts itself
- противоре́чие (protivoréčije)the logical incompatibility of opposing elements
Spanish contradicción, contrasentido
- contradicciónstatement that contradicts itself
- contrasentidostatement that contradicts itself
Swedish motsägelse, motsägelse
- motsägelseact of contradicting
- motsägelsestatement that contradicts itself
- självmotsägelsestatement that contradicts itself
- självmotsägelsethe logical incompatibility of opposing elements
- självmotsägelseproposition that is false for all values of its variables
Ukrainian супере́чність, протирі́ччя
- супере́чність (superéčnistʹ)statement that contradicts itself
- протирі́ччя (protyríččja)statement that contradicts itself
- супере́чність (superéčnistʹ)the logical incompatibility of opposing elements
- протирі́ччя (protyríččja)the logical incompatibility of opposing elements
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with contradiction
fictionjurisdictionaddictionrestrictionpredictionconvictionfrictiondepictionevictionafflictiondictionconstrictionbenedictionderelictionmaledictionstictionstrictionabstrictionaffixionastrictioncondictionconflictioneffictionemiction
All rhymes →Cite this entry
APA
contradiction. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/contradiction
MLA
“contradiction.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/contradiction. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “contradiction,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/contradiction.
Source: contradiction on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.