SYNONYMS AND RELATED EXPRESSIONS
contradictory
adjective
Expressing or involving claims that oppose one another and cannot both hold in the same sense.
Local English device voice, when available. This is not a recorded dictionary pronunciation.
Mutually inconsistent
Closest synonyms
Related words and expressions
These extend or explain the idea and may require a different sentence structure.
Usage distinction
Return to topMutually exclusive is strongest when the propositions cannot both hold in the same sense.
CHECK THE MEANING IN CONTEXT
See contradictory in use
The two notices gave contradictory instructions about whether advance registration was required.
In a practice debate about a fictional reading room, two statements were contradictory: one said every desk had a lamp, while the other said that one desk had no lamp at that same time.
Compare an alternative with the original word in each passage. Shared meanings do not make every pair interchangeable.
Synonym reference scope and sources
The groups distinguish the senses selected for this study entry. Closest synonyms and broader related expressions have separate labels. The listed sources support lexical selection; not every phrase is a direct quotation from a source.
How the synonym reference was prepared / WordNet 3.0 license