cross purposes

noun

Conflicting, or contrary meanings or ideas, usually arising unintentionally.

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Meanings

noun
  1. pluralplural of cross purpose.
  2. plural-nounConflicting, or contrary meanings or ideas, usually arising unintentionally.

    "Well," continued Lavinia, "life is just like a comedy, only it does not end so pleasantly; but it has just as many cross purposes. Here I am in love with you, who care only for Miss Churchill; she, again, loves Mr. Courtenaye, and he loves only himself, as far as I can make out."

    1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “Different Views of Life”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 108
Cite this entry
APA

cross purposes. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cross%20purposes

MLA

“cross purposes.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cross%20purposes. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cross purposes,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cross%20purposes.

Source: cross purposes on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.