Word.ws English Dictionary

contradistinction

Syllables: con·tra·dis·tinc·tion/ˌkɒntɹədɪˈstɪŋkʃn̩/US/ˌkɑntɹədɪˈstɪŋkʃən/

contradistinction noun: distinction by contrast; the provision of one example against which another example may be defined.

Noun

contradistinction (plural contradistinctions)

  1. Distinction by contrast; the provision of one example against which another example may be defined.
    • We used hamburgers and soda in contradistinction to healthy food.
    • The doctrine that everything is God, in contradistinction to the doctrine that God is everything.1911, Ambrose Bierce, “pantheism”, in The Devil’s Dictionary, New York, N.Y.; Washington, D.C.: The Neale Publishing Company, →OCLC
  2. The quality of being contradistinctive.

contradistinction meaning in Urdu

contradistinction in Urdu

فرق

Examples of contradistinction in a sentence

  • Few sailors speak of Square Knot except in contradistinction to Granny Knot but it is the common shore name for the knot and is in good repute among sailors.1944, Clifford W. Ashley, The Ashley Book of Knots, page 220:
  • It will be noted that on this service, in contradistinction to that from and to Bristol, extra trains are provided to cope with peak-hour conditions; [...].1961 October, “The winter timetables of British Railways: Western Region”, in Trains Illustrated, page 591:
  • As a shorthand, we could also call it global trade, in contradistinction from local trade, the latter being within the nation state, or at short distance.2026 January 14, Alan Taylor, “Driving over the peak, or a false summit? − speech by Alan Taylor”, in (Please provide the book title or...

Forms of contradistinction

pluralcontradistinctions

Origin of contradistinction

From contra- + distinction.

Words formed from contradistinction

Questions about contradistinction

What does contradistinction mean?
Contradistinction means distinction by contrast; the provision of one example against which another example may be defined.
What is contradistinction in Urdu?
Contradistinction in Urdu is فرق. See Contradistinction meaning in Urdu.
How do you use contradistinction in a sentence?
Few sailors speak of Square Knot except in contradistinction to Granny Knot but it is the common shore name for the knot and is in good repute among sailors.
What part of speech is contradistinction?
Contradistinction is a noun.
How do you pronounce contradistinction?
Contradistinction is pronounced /ˌkɒntɹədɪˈstɪŋkʃn̩/ (UK).
What is the plural of contradistinction?
The plural of contradistinction is contradistinctions.

Words near contradistinction in the dictionary

  1. contradictory antonym
  2. contradictory antonyms
  3. contradicts
  4. contradirectional
  5. contradistinct
  6. contradistinction
  7. contradistinctional
  8. contradistinctionally
  9. contradistinctions
  10. contradistinctive
  11. contradistinctively

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: contradistinction (page history and authors); contradistinction (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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