- contrary to something different from something; against something
- Contrary to popular belief, many cats dislike milk.
- The government has decided that the publication of the report would be ‘contrary to the public interest’.
- Contrary to expectations and the weather forecast, we had a fine day for the experiment.
Extra Examples- Contrary to popular belief, the economy is doing well.
- Contrary to what the public was told, weapons were still being exported.
- It seems contrary to common sense.
- The new claim is directly contrary to what was originally stated.
- These results run contrary to our expectations.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs- be
- run
- seem
- …
- completely
- directly
- entirely
- …
- to
- contrary to expectations
- contrary to popular belief
Definitions on the go
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- [only before noun] completely different in nature or direction synonym opposite
- contrary advice/opinions/arguments
- The contrary view is that prison provides an excellent education—in crime.
Extra Examples- Despite all the contrary evidence, they still believed that the Earth was flat.
- My own experience is completely contrary.
Word OriginMiddle English: from Anglo-Norman French contrarie, from Latin contrarius, from contra ‘against’.
Check pronunciation:
contrary1