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contradistinction

Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Distinction by contrasting or opposing qualities.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Distinction by opposite qualities; direct contrast: generally preceded by in and followed by to.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Distinction by contrast.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Distinction by contrast; the displaying of something, A, to show what B is not.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a distinction drawn on the basis of contrast

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

contra- + distinction

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Examples

  • From dime novels and penny dreadfuls through to the pulp boom of the early 20th century which gave us the modern commercial genres of Western, Crime, Romance, Science Fiction and so on, that process continues, with all these genres being defined as “pulp fiction” which by now is intrinsically in contradistinction to “literary fiction”.

    Archive 2009-05-01 Hal Duncan 2009

  • Sistani, in contradistinction, was happy as pigs in the popcorn.

    The Invasion Of Iraq Robert Crisman 2010

  • That goes a long way toward explaining why results for “socialism” and “capitalism” are nearly statistically independent, I had the impression they were being asked in contradistinction to each other.

    The Volokh Conspiracy » Reactions to Words Without Context 2010

  • From dime novels and penny dreadfuls through to the pulp boom of the early 20th century which gave us the modern commercial genres of Western, Crime, Romance, Science Fiction and so on, that process continues, with all these genres being defined as “pulp fiction” which by now is intrinsically in contradistinction to “literary fiction”.

    What is Literary Fiction? Hal Duncan 2009

  • Your definition of Christian, in contradistinction to my second one, goes a long way toward proving what Kamal was getting at.

    The Volokh Conspiracy » Mojave Cross Removed 2010

  • And, nonetheless, we regularly see him applauded in contradistinction to President Obama.

    Kathleen Osborn: 10 Reasons Why Reagan Is Not the Answer Kathleen Osborn 2010

  • And, nonetheless, we regularly see him applauded in contradistinction to President Obama.

    Kathleen Osborn: 10 Reasons Why Reagan Is Not the Answer Kathleen Osborn 2010

  • “Sadly and directly in contradistinction to assimilation theory, the fourth generation differs the most from whites, with a college completion rate of only 6 percent [compared to 35 percent for whites of that era].”

    Matthew Yglesias » Meeting Obama’s College Attainment Goals 2009

  • And, nonetheless, we regularly see him applauded in contradistinction to President Obama.

    Kathleen Osborn: 10 Reasons Why Reagan Is Not the Answer Kathleen Osborn 2010

  • Your definition of Christian, in contradistinction to my second one, goes a long way toward proving what Kamal was getting at.

    The Volokh Conspiracy » Mojave Cross Removed 2010

Comments

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  • PANTHEISM, n. The doctrine that everything is God, in contradistinction to the doctrine that God is everything.

    Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary

    October 15, 2007

  • This word sounds like a P.C. way to say contradiction.

    July 22, 2008