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contrary
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  • I take issue with anyone who says the contrary.
  • I'm getting contrary messages.
  • We're trying to choose between two contrary solutions.
    contrary = different
  • Early the next morning a contrary breeze came whistling along the river.   (source)
    contrary = opposite
  • Alessandro had contrary and volatile opinions and did a good job of justifying them even when they were totally absurd.   (source)
  • But it means also the ability to believe that black is white, and more, to know that black is white, and to forget that one has ever believed the contrary.   (source)
  • From the very beginning of his illness ...  Ivan Ilych's life had been divided between two contrary and alternating moods:   (source)
    contrary = opposite or alternative
  • No, no; quite the contrary.   (source)
    contrary = opposite
  • I spoke; I told them to retire and consider of what had been said, that I would not lead them farther north if they strenuously desired the contrary, but that I hoped that, with reflection, their courage would return.   (source)
    contrary = something different
  • The two ladies continued to talk, to re-urge the same admitted truths, and enforce them with such examples of the ill effect of a contrary practice as had fallen within their observation, but Anne heard nothing distinctly; it was only a buzz of words in her ear, her mind was in confusion.   (source)
    contrary = different (the opposite of what is recommended)
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  • I took the contrary side, perhaps a little for dispute's sake.   (source)
    contrary = opposite
  • Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor, and the contrary opinion is wishful thinking at its worst. Nations and peoples who forget this basic truth have always paid for it with their lives and freedoms.   (source)
  • Napoleon was well aware of the bad results that might follow if the real facts of the food situation were known, and he decided to make use of Mr. Whymper to spread a contrary impression.   (source)
    contrary = different
  • He remembered remembering contrary things, but those were false memories, products of self-deception.   (source)
  • In a quiet way, very little attended to, she paid her tribute of admiration to Miss Crawford's beauty; but as she still continued to think Mr. Crawford very plain, in spite of her two cousins having repeatedly proved the contrary, she never mentioned him.   (source)
    contrary = opposite
  • Whenever she had thought of the minutiae of the evening, it had been as a matter of course that Edmund would begin with Miss Crawford; and the impression was so strong, that though her uncle spoke the contrary, she could not help an exclamation of surprise, a hint of her unfitness, an entreaty even to be excused.   (source)
    contrary = of doing something different
  • My lord should to the heavens be contrary,
    Oppose against their wills.   (source)
    contrary = different (doing something other than what the heavens would dictate)
  • — This trick may chance to scathe you,—I know what: You must contrary me! marry, 'tis time.   (source)
    contrary = contradict
  • A loyal and obedient subject is
    Therein illustrate: The honour of it
    Does pay the act of it, as i' the contrary,
    The foulness is the punishment.   (source)
    contrary = opposite
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  • We were hoping to make better time, but we had to battle a contrary wind.
    contrary = disagreeable (the wind was blowing in the opposite direction of travel)
  • She just said it to be contrary.
    contrary = disagreeable
  • He gave me besides a great bag holding all of the contrary winds, so they could not trouble us.   (source)
    contrary = disagreeable (not blowing as desired)
  • She'd have spent the rest of her life on it and died without so much agony, but she was too contrary-   (source)
    contrary = disagreeable
  • She's contrary as a very witch herself.   (source)
  • "Later," Alessandro said, since part of his business was to be contrary.   (source)
  • Lizabetha Prokofievna, who disliked Varvara, although she had a great respect for her mother, was much annoyed by this sudden intimacy, and put it down to the general "contrariness" of her daughters, who were "always on the lookout for some new way of opposing her."   (source)
    contrariness = disagreeableness
  • Beyond Cologne we descended to the plains of Holland; and we resolved to post the remainder of our way, for the wind was contrary and the stream of the river was too gentle to aid us.   (source)
    contrary = disagreeable (not blowing as desired)
  • Not that we would have endangered his safety by any tremendous weather—but only by a steady contrary wind, or a calm.   (source)
  • I suspected there was probably a large dose of natural contrariness in his decision—nobody expected him to go, probably least of all Alicia and Rupert themselves.†   (source)
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  • Quite often social contrariness and a generally pessimistic outlook are observed.†   (source)
  • As any parent of a teenage child will tell you, the essential contrariness of adolescents suggests that the more adults inveigh against smoking and lecture teenagers about its dangers, the more teens, paradoxically, will want to try it.†   (source)
  • My contrariness kept Char laughing, and his goodness kept me in love.†   (source)
  • Of all the times contrary Eurylochos bore black eyes and a lumpen nose.   (source)
    contrary = disagreeable
  • Mary, Mary, quite contrary, How does your garden grow?
  • She rushed out at an opposite door from the one her uncle was approaching, and was walking up and down the East room in the utmost confusion of contrary feeling, before Sir Thomas's politeness or apologies were over, or he had reached the beginning of the joyful intelligence which his visitor came to communicate.   (source)
  • Quite often social contrariness and a generally pessimistic outlook are observed.†   (source)
  • What do you suppose they mean by "social contrariness"?†   (source)
  • They don't define "social contrariness," and I can't define it, so I think it ought to be excluded from the list.†   (source)
  • Something of her contrariness came back to her as she paced the wall and looked over it at the tree-tops inside.†   (source)
  • And I must admit the very contrariness of his thoughts, their antipathy to my own, add a special allure to our meetings.†   (source)
  • Despite his contrariness, however, Spillbeans had apparently no intention of allowing the other horses to get completely out of sight.†   (source)
  • She'd marry him out of contrariness."†   (source)
  • The honest old scholar suffered every abuse imaginable as a result of young Leo's intellectual obstinacy, captiousness, skepticism, contrariness, and cutting dialectical logic.†   (source)
  • She folded herself in the large chair, and leaned her head against it in fatigued quiescence, while Tantripp went away wondering at this strange contrariness in her young mistress—that just the morning when she had more of a widow's face than ever, she should have asked for her lighter mourning which she had waived before.†   (source)
  • What storm is this that blows so contrary?   (source)
    contrary = disagreeably
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  • We will not allow members to act contrary to our code of ethics.
  • how could he mean to behave this way, contrary to the principle that had always governed his treatment of others--his sense of decency.   (source)
  • Contrary to my usual practice, I'm going to write you a detailed description of the food situation, since it's become a matter of some difficulty and importance, not only here in the Annex, but in all of Holland, all of Europe and even beyond.   (source)
    contrary to = opposite
  • At that moment Corin ran up to Shasta, seized his hand and started dragging him towards King Lune. "Here he is, Father, here he is," cried Corin.
      "Aye, and here thou art, at last," said the King in a very gruff voice. "And hast been in the battle, clean contrary to your obedience."   (source)
    contrary to = in opposition to
  • Contrary to most theologians, I have always believed that even worms and weasels have souls, and that even they are capable of salvation.   (source)
  • A too rigid equality in rations, Squealer explained, would have been contrary to the principles of Animalism.   (source)
  • With this I have gone far ahead and, contrary to my actual plan and intention, already conveyed what Haller essentially meant to me; whereas my original aim was to uncover his picture by degrees while telling the course of my gradual acquaintance with him.   (source)
  • We sometimes have strange, impossible dreams, contrary to all the laws of nature.   (source)
  • I asked him if he didn't know it was contrary to law; and that slaves were whipped and imprisoned for teaching each other to read.   (source)
  • As the minuteness of the parts formed a great hindrance to my speed, I resolved, contrary to my first intention, to make the being of a gigantic stature, that is to say, about eight feet in height, and proportionably large.   (source)
    contrary to = opposite or different
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  • It is to be noted that the contributions to this building being made by people of different sects, care was taken in the nomination of trustees, in whom the building and ground was to be vested, that a predominancy should not be given to any sect, lest in time that predominancy might be a means of appropriating the whole to the use of such sect, contrary to the original intention.   (source)
    contrary to = in opposition to
  • Contrary to common belief, however, the bus doesn't lie beneath any established flight path, and very few planes fly over it.†   (source)
  • B sleeps in a separate tent and is in the habit of forgetting her mittens, and wandering around at night contrary to orders.†   (source)
  • Contrary to the predictions of many, Pastoral China not only survived, but thrived.†   (source)
  • To do so would be contrary to the human spirit.†   (source)
  • Contrary to conventional wisdom, the military is not a landing spot for low-income kids with no other options.†   (source)
  • She stayed at school after hours, because "I've got to pull up my art grade" (never mind the pot smoking and the drinking, and that, contrary to what we had been led to believe, there was no supervision in the room).†   (source)
  • Contrary to their original conclusion, she was very much alive.†   (source)
  • "You know, contrary to popular belief, the OASIS really won't change that drastically when IOI takes control of it.†   (source)
  • Unfortunately, it was an expensive model equipped with a two-way radio feature, which, contrary to his orders, was now being used by one of his agents to page him.†   (source)
  • He warns me that money is not the most important thing, contrary to the popular view on campus.†   (source)
  • And there was another, general misunderstanding at that time: contrary to popular belief, coming to Canada was not a very shrewd way to beat the draft; there were better and easier ways to "beat" it— I'll tell you about one, later.†   (source)
  • Contrary to Mrs. Scatcherd's expectations—or perhaps in response to her rebuke—we are a quiet lot, even the older boys.†   (source)
  • High school is neither a democracy nor a dictatorship—nor, contrary to popular belief, an anarchic state.†   (source)
  • It is clear that this slave has violated the person of her master, destroyed valuable property, and attempted to run away, all contrary to the laws of our colony.†   (source)
  • Would it be contrary to medical ethics in the HeLa cell's coming-of-age year to authenticate the name and let He … La … enjoy the fame she so richly deserves?†   (source)
  • And contrary to what you're probably thinking, not all sniper shots, certainly not mine, take the bad guys in the head.†   (source)
  • Contrary to popular belief, dog teams generally do not stop and wait for a musher who falls off.†   (source)
  • The afternoon was a runaway train, with the questions from the newbies constant, contrary to the assurances of Jared, who was in and out throughout the afternoon, leaving the room a dozen times, talking on his phone with great intensity.†   (source)
  • Contrary to what she expected they poled upriver, far away from the rowboat Amy had found.†   (source)
  • Hiro concludes that Bruce Lee, contrary to his reputation, must have just gone out and gotten scalps of any old color, bleached them, and dyed them.†   (source)
  • And contrary to local lore, Kerry did not burn the stuff in a bonfire; Dad told me that he donated it to St. Vincent de Paul.†   (source)
  • It was completely contrary to Lord Darlington's natural tendencies to take such public stances as he came to do and I can say with conviction that his lordship was persuaded to overcome his more retiring side only through a deep sense of moral duty.†   (source)
  • An awful lot of what is done in my name has nothing to do with me and is often, even if unintentional, very contrary to my purposes.†   (source)
  • Contrary to popular belief, not all traveling performers are of the Ruh.†   (source)
  • Years later, reviewing the chronicle of those days, Dr. Juvenal Urbino confirmed that his father's methodology had been more charitable than scientific and, in many ways, contrary to reason, so that in large measure it had fostered the voraciousness of the plague.†   (source)
  • Contrary to what I observed a few times in Australia, in our situation we don't need to depend upon a superstar.†   (source)
  • This seemed to be contrary to the whole nature of geometry itself.†   (source)
  • The seas, as it turned out, contrary to all plans, were running high and choppy.†   (source)
  • Tis not contrary to reason to prefer the destruction of the whole world to the scratching of my finger,' said Hume.†   (source)
  • …if he said this to his son that his son might not go, and he knew above all else that his son must go, and what he did not say was that he had come to that point in a parent's life when, if a flood arrives, one knows one must let go of one's child, contrary to all the instincts one had when one was younger, because holding on can no longer offer the child protection, it can only pull the child down, and threaten them with drowning, for the child is now stronger than the parent, and the…†   (source)
  • Contrary to almost everything he'd read about their luridness, he found them long and boring.†   (source)
  • At the end of the hearing, Palmgren intimated that compulsory institutionalisation was in all probability not only contrary to Parliament's decisions in similar situations, but in this particular case it might in addition be the subject of political and media reprisals.†   (source)
  • Contrary to what you might think, I don't spend every waking hour thinking about boys.†   (source)
  • Contrary to what you, Arya, and everyone else seem to believe, Iam aware that other eligible women exist in Alagaesia and that people have been known to fall in love more than once.†   (source)
  • We didn't expect the leader of Erudite to start hunting them down—or for the Abnegation to even tell her what they were—and contrary to what Edith Prior said, we never really intended for you to send a Divergent army out to us.†   (source)
  • That would be contrary to Kansas law.†   (source)
  • 'You are charged with, on March 6, 2007, a count of first-degree murder, contrary to 631:1-A, in that you purposely caused the death of another, to wit, Justin Friedman'.†   (source)
  • No one at the Khayan Hotel spoke English, contrary to advertising, and I had to wear my mon toe and roosarie during dinner.†   (source)
  • Contrary to its legend, Paris does not offer many distractions; or, those distractions that it offers are like French pastry, vivid and insubstantial, sweet on the tongue and sour in the belly.†   (source)
  • Apart from its wrong-headedness, Neville's speech was entirely contrary to the climate of cooperation between organizations we were trying to create on the island.†   (source)
  • "THIS IS THE SCENIC ROUTE: STRAIGHT AHEAD TO POINT OF VIEW" announced a rather large road sign; but, contrary to its statement, all that could be seen were more trees.†   (source)
  • If the Commandant catches us — "Contrary to what you might think, girl," Cook says, "the Commandant is not all-powerful.†   (source)
  • Waving his arms and trying to tell her what that fool redhead's been up to already, so early in the morning-disrupting things, goin' contrary to ward policy, can't she do something?†   (source)
  • Contrary to his fears, however, Bigwig remained as silent as himself.†   (source)
  • It is — contrary to all our expectations — a certainty.†   (source)
  • The typical crack murder involved one crack dealer shooting another (or two of them, or three) and not, contrary to conventional wisdom, some bug-eyed crackhead shooting a shopkeeper over a few dollars.†   (source)
  • It was so contrary to the way that I felt that it was difficult to process.†   (source)
  • Contrary to regulations.†   (source)
  • As a result, said a Ghanaian doctor, Eunice Brookman-Amissah, "contrary to its stated intentions, the global gag rule results in more unwanted pregnancies, more unsafe abortions, and more deaths of women and girls.†   (source)
  • Contrary to popular belief, the United States Army has a sense of humor.†   (source)
  • Contrary to logic, the feeling of surprise wasn't born immediately.†   (source)
  • Jennings that, contrary to popular belief, Bach was not more prolific than Telemann; he's just better remembered.†   (source)
  • But contrary to what she'd said, he didn't look forty, and that had surprised her.†   (source)
  • Though he did not say so to Bilbo, he also thought it important, and disturbing, to find that the good hobbit had not told the truth from the first: quite contrary to his habit.†   (source)
  • Everyone knows that part of the spirit descends to the afterworld, while part of it remains with the family, but we have a special belief about the spirit of a young woman who has died before her marriage that goes contrary to this.†   (source)
  • And contrary to popular opinion, we don't dance around graveyards and raise the dead either."†   (source)
  • Contrary to the overall impression I may have given you, I really am a very decent guy.†   (source)
  • Contrary to his doctor's orders, the judge was still smoking his pipe—he could not quit—and he loaded one up with Sir Walter Raleigh and struck a match.†   (source)
  • Because still, "I" was me, unitary, one thing, and yet I acted against myself, contrary to my interests and desires, sometimes secretly, deceiving myself as to what I knew and did.†   (source)
  • For contrary to what Washington thought, the British had had no plans for or any intention of engaging the rebels that day, or anytime soon.†   (source)
  • Contrary to the most enlightened skeptics, there might be a God, after all.†   (source)
  • Later, Dad looked up the Manichaeans in the encyclopedia and discovered that, contrary to what Max claimed, the Manichaeans believed that the world and all matter were created by nefarious forces, and that the only way to battle them was through asceticism and a pure life.†   (source)
  • Diem—whose regime President Kennedy has long supported, but whose anti-Buddhist stance is contrary to American foreign policy—denies promotions to officials known to be Buddhist and looks the other way when Roman Catholic priests organize private armies that loot and demolish the pagodas where the Buddhists worship.†   (source)
  • Contrary to my usual policy, I have become a publicity hound.†   (source)
  • Mr. Lias, contrary to his usual nature, said next to nothing.†   (source)
  • A Missouri captain reported that his men believed it contrary to "what they have fought for the last four years."†   (source)
  • If judges didn't conspire with the legislature, they would rule that the State law was contrary to the supreme law of the land, unconstitutional, and void.†   (source)
  • It sounds good—but it's so contrary to orthodox doctrine that I need to see it.†   (source)
  • Contrary to her assumptions, Natalie had not made the crossing from Santorini to Bodrum alone.†   (source)
  • Contrary to yet another myth, Eskimo dogs are not semi-domesticated wolves though both species may well have sprung from the same ancestry.†   (source)
  • Many a Red had set out on such a journey and been turned away, forced to stop and sleep and rest and eat, stopped by darkness or bad weather, because his need for the journey wasn't great enough, or his journey was contrary to what the land itself needed.†   (source)
  • The notion runs contrary to all my experience.†   (source)
  • Just for your information, and contrary to the gossip Claudie's spreading, I had a very satisfactory dinner.†   (source)
  • I mean that contrary to anything Peters told you, you are not going farther east.†   (source)
  • In this absurdity, so contrary to common sense, the doctor saw a profound symbol.†   (source)
  • It was the second crop of the year, sown on ground which had not been allowed to lie fallow, and so we did not think it would be other than meagre; but contrary to our expectations it was a very good harvest.†   (source)
  • We can improve our democratic processes, we can enlighten our understanding of its problems, and we can increase our respect for those men of integrity who find it necessary, from time to time, to act contrary to public opinion.†   (source)
  • Speaking like this to a native, appealing to him, was contrary to Dick's ideas of the relationship between white and black, but he was furious with Mary for her lack of consideration and tact.†   (source)
  • Contrary to general belief, I do not believe that friends are necessarily the people you like best, they are merely the people who got there first.   (source)
  • Treat with utmost respect your power of forming opinions, for this power alone guards you against making assumptions that are contrary to nature and judgments that overthrow the rule of reason.   (source)
  • Napoleon had denounced such ideas as contrary to the spirit of Animalism.   (source)
  • Others asked such questions as ... 'If this Rebellion is to happen anyway, what difference does it make whether we work for it or not?', and the pigs had great difficulty in making them see that this was contrary to the spirit of Animalism.   (source)
  • I confess, however, that I should not have stayed here even if you had invited me, not for any particular reason, but because it is—well, contrary to my practice and nature, somehow.   (source)
  • All had issued forth in obedience to the mandate; that is, the girls, mamma, and Prince S. Lizabetha Prokofievna went off in a direction exactly contrary to the usual one, and all understood very well what she was driving at, but held their peace, fearing to irritate the good lady.   (source)
  • A name that I am so very well acquainted with; knew the gentleman so well by sight; seen him a hundred times; came to consult me once, I remember, about a trespass of one of his neighbours; farmer's man breaking into his orchard; wall torn down; apples stolen; caught in the fact; and afterwards, contrary to my judgement, submitted to an amicable compromise.   (source)
  • But before three o'clock in the afternoon that something took place to which I alluded at the end of the last book, something so unexpected by all of us and so contrary to the general hope, that, I repeat, this trivial incident has been minutely remembered to this day in our town and all the surrounding neighborhood.   (source)
  • While he spoke, Maria was looking apprehensively round at Edmund in full expectation that he must oppose such an enlargement of the plan as this: so contrary to all their first protestations; but Edmund said nothing.   (source)
  • On the evening he wrote that letter at the 'Metropolis' tavern, contrary to his custom he was silent, though he had been drinking.   (source)
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  • I will not pay you for the work. On the contrary, I may sue you for damages.
  • She did not want to get up; not because she was still tired - on the contrary she was wonderfully rested   (source)
  • Still, I don't want to moan and groan. On the contrary, I want to be brave!   (source)
  • Trees grew along both sides of the road home, making it very dark and dangerous for anyone who wasn't used to it. But Stanley had no fears. On the contrary, he loved the night.   (source)
  • You yourself don't seem to trust your gift... On the contrary, I think you are a master of your craft, and I can scarcely wait for you to give us another taste of your skill at long last.   (source)
  • "On the contrary" I said, "only I know how long I have been here."   (source)
  • But stupidity is not enough. On the contrary, orthodoxy in the full sense demands a control over one's own mental processes as complete as that of a contortionist over his body.   (source)
  •   "No one has ever seen such a pearl."
      "On the contrary," said the dealer, "it is large and clumsy."   (source)
  • On the contrary, it was often exceedingly painful, often almost intolerable.   (source)
  • Then she took to helping him without leave; and he saw how valuable her assistance was to him, and did not drive her away again; on the contrary, he occasionally gave her the remnants of his dinner, bread and cheese.   (source)
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  • Ivan Ilych never abused his power; he tried on the contrary to soften its expression, but the consciousness of it and the possibility of softening its effect, supplied the chief interest and attraction of his office.   (source)
  • Not a bit. On the contrary, I feel extraordinarily lively.   (source)
  • There was hardly a night the summer through when the old cow could be found waiting at the pasture bars; on the contrary, it was her greatest pleasure to hide herself away among the huckleberry bushes,   (source)
  • What would be your surprise, my son, when you expected a happy and glad welcome, to behold, on the contrary, tears and wretchedness?   (source)
    on the contrary = in opposition to the idea previously stated
  • On the contrary, it was pride that more resembled that small pool of felt something in her stomach.†   (source)
  • On the contrary, he looked resentful and sulky.†   (source)
  • He was not less exhausted; on the contrary, his steps were leaden, and he could barely move his freezing, tired legs.†   (source)
  • On the contrary.†   (source)
  • On the contrary.†   (source)
  • "On the contrary," Gregor murmured.†   (source)
  • On the contrary, it is quite possible.†   (source)
  • On the contrary, what I have to tell you is extremely unpleasant, extremely unpleasant indeed.†   (source)
  • On the contrary, she is one of us.†   (source)
  • Adler made no effort to conceal his closeness to Lawton; on the contrary, he put a large RE-ELECT SPENCER LAWTON poster on the fence in front of his house.†   (source)
  • On the contrary, you let it penetrate you fully.†   (source)
  • On the contrary, he felt his original views were correct: that a lizard species had been driven from the forest into a new habitat, and was coming into contact with village people.†   (source)
  • On the contrary, it was easy to see how, over the years, Pete's reponses to Daddy had been more honest than Ty's, destructive but at least not duplicitous, impolitic but passionate, angry but never self-serving, and almost noble in the last four years, after Rose's revelations about what Daddy had done to her.†   (source)
  • On the contrary.†   (source)
  • He was articulate, but he never made speech seem effortless; on the contrary, he exhibited what hard work it was—to make his faith, in tandem with his doubt, clear; to speak well, in spite of his stutter.†   (source)
  • On the contrary, he feels quite hopeful.†   (source)
  • On the contrary, I was elated and urgently wanted to tell my closest friends.†   (source)
  • He didn't much care if they stirred up the seekers' nest; on the contrary, he rather welcomed it.†   (source)
  • "Right, well, he'd been sick for a while and his nurse said to him, 'You seem to be feeling better this morning,' and Ibsen looked at her and said, 'On the contrary' and then he died."†   (source)
  • There is no question of skipping this meal; on the contrary, for ten evenings the three of them are strangely hungry, eager to taste the blandness on their plates.†   (source)
  • On the contrary, independent sentiment now burns as far away as Georgia, as well as the western frontier.†   (source)
  • On the contrary.†   (source)
  • On the contrary, Maxon held me so close I could smell his cologne and feel his stubble against my cheek.†   (source)
  • On the contrary, he's the sanest person I know.†   (source)
  • "On the contrary, in the Capitol you'd be considered stupid not to do it," says Messalla.†   (source)
  • ROSE: On the contrary, it's exciting.†   (source)
  • And the reason was that he did not look like a SEAL; on the contrary, Ryan looked like a big lump.†   (source)
  • Certainly I'm no mad exterminator bent on killing devil microbes; on the contrary, I admire them.†   (source)
  • On the contrary, I find you very difficult to read.†   (source)
  • She said, No, on the contrary, Tashi works harder than most girls her age.†   (source)
  • None of these teenagers had been forced to break the law; on the contrary, they seemed eager to do it.†   (source)
  • On the contrary.†   (source)
  • On the contrary, it will get stronger.†   (source)
  • On the contrary, Miss Kenton.†   (source)
  • "On the contrary," the doctor says, looking up at him.†   (source)
  • On the contrary: life had shown her that perhaps it was exemplary.†   (source)
  • On the contrary he gave the impression of one desiring to learn from those he spoke with.†   (source)
  • And then Doctor Nolan told me how the best of psychiatrists have suicides among their patients, and how they, if anybody, should be held responsible, but how they, on the contrary, do not hold themselves responsible….†   (source)
  • On the contrary, Farmer said, it could be quite helpful.†   (source)
  • On the contrary, it has a great deal to do with it if you want to understand.†   (source)
  • On the contrary, he had remained something of a man in the shadows among his peers.†   (source)
  • "On the contrary," Menshikov said, rubbing his chafed neck.†   (source)
  • On the contrary, everyone's afraid of him.†   (source)
  • They did not impress her as being rough; they seemed, on the contrary, rather too gentle for their brutal environment.†   (source)
  • But, on the contrary, I am an admirer of such a system.†   (source)
  • On the contrary, I felt very strong.†   (source)
  • On the contrary, there was a curious, rather unnatural gentleness about the way in which he waited for them to come nearer.†   (source)
  • On the contrary, they were so eager to be off, many of them asked Roran if it was possible to set sail that day instead of the next.†   (source)
  • On the contrary, all of the results strongly suggest that our environment plays as big — if not bigger — a role as heredity in shaping personality and intelligence.†   (source)
  • On the contrary, at eighteen Rosa was still slender and remained unblemished; her maritime grace had, if anything, increased.†   (source)
  • 'On the contrary,' Yossarian corrected.†   (source)
  • On the contrary.†   (source)
  • On the contrary, only by doing so could she live in truth.†   (source)
  • On the contrary, he was the one who'd convinced her they had to come in the first place.†   (source)
  • On the contrary, Judge.†   (source)
  • On the contrary: It's a deeply pondered decision.†   (source)
  • On the contrary, no?†   (source)
  • On the contrary, William Howe had little inclination ever to rush things.†   (source)
  • On the contrary; I revere them.†   (source)
  • On the contrary, I want to get back to them as soon as I can.†   (source)
  • On the contrary, I think it was very well done of you.†   (source)
  • Grandmother was by no means feebleminded; on the contrary, she was an intelligent, overbearing individual, who seemed at times to relish demeaning her daughter.†   (source)
  • On the contrary.†   (source)
  • On the contrary, I think my predecessor was quite innocent.†   (source)
  • She didn't seem surprised to see Clary on the throne: on the contrary, her lips curved into a smirk.†   (source)
  • "On the contrary," retorted David.†   (source)
  • And Billy, meanwhile, was trying to hang onto his dignity, to persuade Barbara and everybody else that he was far from senile, that, on the contrary, he was devoting himself to a calling much higher than mere business.†   (source)
  • On the contrary, they are people who move right up into the strongest social positions.†   (source)
  • On the contrary!†   (source)
  • On the contrary, Mr. McLean.†   (source)
  • On the contrary, I have never been more in earnest.†   (source)
  • "On the contrary, Mr. Staples," Judson said.†   (source)
  • On the contrary, the State ban on taxing imports and exports implies that the States have the power to tax.†   (source)
  • On the contrary, Socrates--according to Plato--contends that the unmanly and pathetic practice of pleading for clemency disgraces the justice system of Athens.†   (source)
  • When the first people, some neighbors, arrived to offer their congratulations, his mother (who had now assumed the grave and dignified air befitting the mother of a surgeon) related to them how Hisham hadn't made any effort to win the appointment; on the contrary, it was they who had insisted on appointing him, in view of his excellence.†   (source)
  • On the contrary: "lfyour enemy is hungry; feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.†   (source)
  • On the contrary, I failed utterly.†   (source)
  • On the contrary, I believe ….†   (source)
  • On the contrary, its trustworthiness and its travel-worthiness have to do with its local setting.†   (source)
  • PLAYER: On the contrary, it's the only kind they do believe.†   (source)
  • On the contrary he felt flattered; proud.†   (source)
  • On the contrary.†   (source)
  • On the contrary, that was the greatest of heresies.†   (source)
  • On the contrary.†   (source)
  • JEAN: On the contrary.†   (source)
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  • Unless I hear to the contrary, I will meet you outside the theatre at eight.
    to the contrary = something with an opposite or different effect
  • No matter what anyone says to the contrary, I heard him say it.
    to the contrary = with an opposite or different effect
  • Atticus, let's get on with these proceedings, and let the record show that the witness has not been sassed, her views to the contrary.   (source)
    to the contrary = with a different opinion
  • Mother passed this story on to me, and I was secretly amazed that Peter, who'd been so angry at Dussel, had humbled himself, despite all his assurances to the contrary.   (source)
    to the contrary = of the opposite
  • He would listen eagerly not because he had any hint of what the old man would elucidate, but, to the contrary, because he hadn't the vaguest idea of what had made the man who limped steadily alongside him on the road to Sant' Angelo and Monte Prato.   (source)
    to the contrary = from an opposite effect
  • The only evidence to the contrary was the mute protest in your own bones, the instinctive feeling that the conditions you lived in were intolerable and that at some other time they must have been different.   (source)
    to the contrary = with an opposite effect
  • —we both love you very sincerely, and esteem you, in spite of any appearances to the contrary.   (source)
    to the contrary = with an opposite or different effect
  • In order to secure my credit and character as a tradesman, I took care not only to be in reality industrious and frugal, but to avoid all appearances to the contrary.   (source)
    to the contrary = with an opposite effect
  • To the contrary, he enjoyed tipping a glass now and then and was an incorrigible ham.†   (source)
  • Children believe that everything bad that happens is somehow their fault, and in this I was no exception; but they also believe in happy endings, despite all evidence to the contrary, and I was no exception in that either.†   (source)
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  • If he looked into the strobed rain too long, he ended up curled and oblivious, for if there was no figure to be seen in the falling drops of water, he felt abandoned, and if he saw anything—a shape, a movement, a form—he screamed, silently, despite all resolution to the contrary.†   (source)
  • For some reason, many Americans began to think that all Iranians, despite outward appearances to the contrary, could at any given moment get angry and take prisoners.†   (source)
  • Quite to the contrary, it was one of the most intricate and purposeful constructions ever manufactured by man.†   (source)
  • But if a third of our community questions the president's origin—despite all evidence to the contrary—it's a good bet that the other conspiracies have broader currency than we'd like.†   (source)
  • She knew she should usher Langdon from the museum immediately, and yet instinct urged her to the contrary.†   (source)
  • "These deaths were not the random work of a lunatic!"
      "I see no evidence to the contrary!" shouted Fudge, now matching her anger, his face purpling.†   (source)
  • But the scratches and bruises were long healed, and all her own statements at the time were to the contrary.†   (source)
  • Any suggestion to the contrary is ignorant and outrageous.†   (source)
  • Because of their meetings at the shot-put circle, the kids at school had made them a couple despite all evidence to the contrary.†   (source)
  • I'm in no position to make an argument to the contrary.†   (source)
  • "To the contrary, ma'am," Bellingham snapped.†   (source)
  • Never heard a whisper to the contrary.†   (source)
  • Despite numerous reports to the contrary, as far as is known, Sheikh Abdullah al-Janabi escaped from Fallujah and is still at large.†   (source)
  • Despite his statements to the contrary after the mule-barn incident, Roy Lee was still with us.†   (source)
  • Handcuffs are not intended as long-term restraint devices, millions of Clink franchisees to the contrary.†   (source)
  • Sometimes he told himself he had heard no such thing, and sometimes he was so convinced to the contrary that he called out into the darkness, "Is someone out there?†   (source)
  • Finally Ben was able to drop the rock and I retained my firm belief that it wouldn't fall despite evidence to the contrary.†   (source)
  • When she disembarked with her goddaughter in San Juan de la Cienaga, she called on the great reserves of her character and recognized the town despite all the evidence to the contrary.†   (source)
  • Quite to the contrary, he was thriving.†   (source)
  • She could feel how this country far across the ocean pulled on her and lived inside her despite her wishes to the contrary; it was something she could not deny.†   (source)
  • Quite to the contrary, he was so serious, she wondered if he was mocking her.†   (source)
  • Who would have dared my anything to the contrary?†   (source)
  • He constructed a rigid system that said that a young black man in a car running from the police had to be a dangerous criminal, and all evidence to the contrary that would ordinarily have been factored into his thinking—the fact that Russ was just sitting in his car and that he had never gone above seventy miles per hour—did not register at all.†   (source)
  • Some still believe that, despite all evidence to the contrary.†   (source)
  • A glance at his emaciated body, jutting out at harsh angles from under the sheets, testified to the contrary.†   (source)
  • He sounded persuasive and, despite her knowledge to the contrary, caring.†   (source)
  • They could do this despite the evidence to the contrary around them: the doctors and medics with their surgical instruments and their operating tables ready to be set up on the beaches.†   (source)
  • I more or less gave everyone near top marks for everything, even in the face of obvious evidence to the contrary.†   (source)
  • Without asking their opinion, Severo made them marry, and, despite the predictions to the contrary of Nivea and her friends, they were very happy.†   (source)
  • Anything to the contrary would have been a surprise.†   (source)
  • Stirling had been ordered by Putnam to "repulse" the enemy, and for lack of orders to the contrary, he and his men had held on for nearly four hours.†   (source)
  • To the contrary, I found myself excited, enthralled even, at the prospect of seeing the Great Lady again.†   (source)
  • Do we have any evidence to the contrary?†   (source)
  • Despite the many good things Grace had told him (or perhaps because of them) and despite his own best efforts to the contrary, Tom could not fully dislodge a predisposed dislike that was not, he knew, in his nature.†   (source)
  • It was as if she were afraid she had hallucinated him and needed proof to the contrary.†   (source)
  • She stared in astonishment at a paragraph in a syndicated column from New York, which stated over emphatically that Mr. James Taggart wished it to be known that his sister had died in an airplane crash, any unpatriotic rumors to the contrary notwithstanding.†   (source)
  • They plan to give out the antivirus selectively, regardless of any promise to the contrary.†   (source)
  • It is amazing what mothers will believe despite all evidence to the contrary—anything to save themselves.†   (source)
  • Well, you are a slave, my friend, despite your attempts to the contrary.†   (source)
  • His bearing witness in North Vietnam during that war convinced him, despite all official Washington arguments to the contrary, that North Vietnam was inhabited by human beings.†   (source)
  • Really, she thought she handled the Mini, the roads, the left-hand drive very well, whatever Meara said to the contrary.†   (source)
  • Officers sometimes winked at this activity despite orders to the contrary.†   (source)
  • The way he'd insisted I'm brave, in spite of all the evidence to the contrary.†   (source)
  • And it furnishes a rule for interpreting the Constitution—within the Constitution—that justifies my position and refutes every hypothesis to the contrary.†   (source)
  • Despite her claims to the contrary, Jerry moved with quick agility through the door.†   (source)
  • With no evidence to the contrary, Conklin presumed the worst.†   (source)
  • It's just that each of us feels very strongly about our beliefs, and we're not going to change our minds about something unless someone else offers a very good case to the contrary.†   (source)
  • Despite some reports to the contrary, the weather is cooperating very well and it looks to be a bumper crop.†   (source)
  • Though he pretended to be above such ideas as racial superiority and spoke with genuine warmth, the entire context of his talk reeked of preconceived ideas to the contrary.†   (source)
  • In these matters, none of the continental capitals could rival it-not even Paris, despite many claims to the contrary.†   (source)
  • To the contrary, while she stood there for a moment with one hand caressing the doorknob, a curious, fleeting glint of mild amusement crossed her face, as if she might give a gentle laugh; her lips parted, her gleaming teeth caught the bright afternoon light, and then he saw her tongue run across her upper lip, interrupting the words she had been poised to say.†   (source)
  • To the contrary.†   (source)
  • But my poor mother--I must tell you that there are certain things in the existence of which my mother did not believe, against any possible evidence to the contrary.†   (source)
  • I do not know why you were invited here, but you must realize that there is little interest here in either books or writers … rather to the contrary.†   (source)
  • However much Filat tried to convince them to the contrary, Lara and Amalia Karlovna insisted that the shots were blanks.†   (source)
  • But now she went on, "That's just barely conceivable, just about one chance in a million, and so long as there is that chance, so long as we don't absolutely know to the contrary, I'm not going to dismiss the possibility entirely from my mind.†   (source)
  • Public opinion to the contrary, he is not guilty.   (source)
  • …it was soon settled, that if nothing were heard to the contrary, Mrs. Grant might expect her.   (source)
  • And I am convinced to the contrary.   (source)
    to the contrary = of the opposite
  • I am assured that it is safe at Northampton; and there it has probably been these ten days, in spite of the solemn assurances we have so often received to the contrary.   (source)
    to the contrary = with an opposite or different effect
  • We cannot prove to the contrary, to be sure; but I wish you a better fate, Miss Price, than to be the wife of a man whose amiableness depends upon his own sermons; for though he may preach himself into a good-humour every Sunday, it will be bad enough to have him quarrelling about green geese from Monday morning till Saturday night.   (source)
    to the contrary = the opposite
  • I have seen persuasive evidence to the contrary.†   (source)
  • The epithet, despite sounding flattering, was quite to the contrary.†   (source)
  • For all the writer of these lines knows to the contrary, she is living still.†   (source)
  • To the contrary: His life hummed with meaning and purpose.†   (source)
  • Quite to the contrary, Dr. Abaddon looked almost aristocratic in his impeccably tailored suit.†   (source)
  • No indication from initial investigation to the contrary.†   (source)
  • Notwithstanding his claim to Abigail to the contrary, anxiety was not at all good for his health.†   (source)
  • To the contrary, he was seduced by the hope that seemed to come to them so easily.†   (source)
  • I am going to show you evidence to the contrary.†   (source)
  • Until someone offers a reasonable argument to the contrary, we do it your way.†   (source)
  • Quite to the contrary, it's a land of light, and soon I'll have to ask you if I'm floating.†   (source)
  • For all that anyone knew to the contrary, the Overlords might be tone deaf.†   (source)
  • …a good deal about her family situation as a child, and about her crossing of the Atlantic, as an emigrant; but none of it is very far out of the ordinary — only the usual poverty and hardships, etc. Those who believe in the hereditary nature of insanity might take some comfort in the fact that her father was an inebriate, and possibly an arsonist as well; but despite several theories to the contrary, I am far from being convinced that such tendencies are necessarily inherited.†   (source)
  • He supposed he had been pleasant in his way, but he had also seemed vain and, whatever he said to the contrary, much too surprised that a Muggle-born should make a good witch.†   (source)
  • Quite to the contrary, he thought a prompt dispensing of pleasantries and a quick shift to the business at hand utterly in keeping with the etiquette of tea—perhaps even essential to the institution.†   (source)
  • Langdon followed Sophie to the westbound District and Circle Line platform, where she hurried to a pay phone to call the police, despite Rémy's warning to the contrary.†   (source)
  • You suspected, you told me, thatyou had offended him, but that he soon convinced you to the contrary by crossing the room and taking a seat in the chair next to you.†   (source)
  • To the contrary, she was the picture of ferocity, with her wild hair and her shouting and her dark-eyed expression.†   (source)
  • Miles flinched when Brian mentioned the blanket, and for the first time Brian knew that he was really listening, despite his shouts to the contrary.†   (source)
  • The narrow-faced elf did not appear overly disappointed; to the contrary, Eragon thought he saw a flash of satisfaction appear in Fiolr's fierce eyes.†   (source)
  • Despite our advice to the contrary, they went to join the fight, and it was in that fighting that your namesake died, Saphira…… And now you know how the Forsworn captured us and how we escaped.†   (source)
  • He studied vehemently, practiced until his health was in jeopardy, and attended the Friday-night sessions with the three Mora sisters, despite his father's express orders to the contrary; for Esteban Trueba persisted in believing that these were not suitable matters for men.†   (source)
  • They proclaim that every man born is entitled to exist without labor and, the laws of reality to the contrary notwithstanding, is entitled to receive his 'minimum sustenance'-his food, his clothes, his shelter-with no effort on his part, as his due and his birthright.†   (source)
  • Without a thought to the contrary.†   (source)
  • She missed nothing, remembered everything, and never failed to remind her boys of something they'd said to the contrary three years earlier.†   (source)
  • I t was commonly understood that eighteenth-century professional armies and their gentlemen commanders did not subject themselves to the miseries of winter campaigns, unless there were overriding reasons to the contrary.†   (source)
  • Article 6 says that "the Constitution and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; …. anything in the constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding."†   (source)
  • What's more, rumors of your absence are already coursing through the camp, despite our best efforts to the contrary.†   (source)
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  • He drifted back from her boat, bobbing in their contrary wakes.†   (source)
  • And if it had been one of theirs, all but the most contrary would have bounded forward.†   (source)
  • Yet against his will, he was visited by contrary examples.†   (source)
  • I would freeze or, the contrary, pursue my activity, pretending not to have heard.†   (source)
  • The Vatican is made up of deeply pious men who truly believe these contrary documents could only be false testimony.†   (source)
  • "I don't pretend to be an expert at fighting dementors, Harry, quite the contrary…"†   (source)
  • Quite the contrary.†   (source)
  • Some obstinate, contrary part of him still couldn't bear it.†   (source)
  • "I don't mean to be contrary," said Harry Harrison (the other Helper signaled her vigorous agreement), "and I hope you won't be displeased.†   (source)
  • Head and heart are contrary historians.†   (source)
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  • "HE WAS USED," said Owen Meany, who was in a contrary mood.†   (source)
  • Lola was required only to remain silent about the truth, banish it and forget it entirely, and persuade herself not of some contrary tale, but simply of her own uncertainty.†   (source)
  • There was nothing at all threatening about them, quite the contrary; they were reassuringly dumpy and middle-aged, dressed like a pair of substitute school teachers, but though they both had kindly expressions on their faces, I understood the instant I saw them that my life, as I knew it, was over.†   (source)
  • She hasn't said this with any particular malice--quite the contrary, her words are very matter-of-fact.†   (source)
  • She said it was the strangest thing, it's like it was broken twenty years ago and allowed to set in the "most contrary" of directions.†   (source)
  • I am fond of Miss Emily Dickinson: No snikcidy lime, a contrary name with a delicious sour-green taste.†   (source)
  • On the. contrary, it would-at the very least-amuse us and give at least a glimpse of our fellow travelers" souls before the Shrike or some other calamity distracts us.†   (source)
  • She was too contrary, impetuous, and annoying to be an effective mole.†   (source)
  • Or simply contrary.†   (source)
  • Quite the contrary.†   (source)
  • The morning before, he had waited until eleven o'clock, when he learned through a casual telegram of the contrary winds that had delayed the schooner, and on this day he had returned to his vigil at four o'clock in the morning.†   (source)
  • "Quite the contrary," Kynes said.†   (source)
  • "Carlisle promised," I mumbled, contrary out of habit.†   (source)
  • If she cries or makes a mess or decides to be contrary (and these are relatively rare), it doesn't bother.†   (source)
  • Quite the contrary.†   (source)
  • Quite the contrary, for their pleasures were not his; he had no use for card games, golf, cocktails, or buffet suppers served at ten-or, indeed, for any pastime that he felt did not "accomplish something."†   (source)
  • I think perhaps the contrary.†   (source)
  • Disregard for a moment the contrary examples of Steve Forbes, Michael Huffington, and especially Thomas Golisano, who over the course of three gubernatorial elections in New York spent $93 million of his own money and won 4 percent, 8 percent, and 14 percent, respectively, of the vote.†   (source)
  • He taught me a lot on those outings: how to account for the wind's contrary nature, its irritating whims; how to move silently across the sand, a no-brainer compared to the jungle; how to aim slightly in front of a moving target, assuming a straight-on run.†   (source)
  • Contrary as he was, he might have asked me to sew it back on.†   (source)
  • One of the few societies to take a contrary view was the Huichol tribe in Mexico.†   (source)
  • Quite the contrary.†   (source)
  • It was weird, really, to have something so contrary in common.†   (source)
  • The smell was both astringent and saccharine, these two contrary characteristics coming together in what she'd come to think of as fetor terribilis.†   (source)
  • "Quite the contrary, Jake," Judge Atlee said.†   (source)
  • What right did he have to make such bold statements so soon and in such contrary circumstances?†   (source)
  • The East River, no river at all but a saltwater estuary nearly a mile wide, was famously difficult to navigate, with swift, contrary currents and tides of as much as six feet.†   (source)
  • Indeed, the contrary appears more likely.†   (source)
  • And she wasn't a contrary person, Bryan reminded herself almost fiercely.†   (source)
  • In cities like Laredo it might appear that this is happening, but there is contrary evidence.†   (source)
  • There is no screaming; she's only being contrary."†   (source)
  • With neither apologies nor care, nor thought, nor credit given to the many contrary proofs, Alessandro believed that the portrait of Bindo Altoviti— "il ritratto suo quando era giovane," his portrait when he was young-was as alive as any of the light that calibrates the time that says of us that we live.†   (source)
  • She said, "I don't know why you're being so contrary."†   (source)
  • The contrary is shown in the vicissitudes and fate of the republic.†   (source)
  • Rather than present himself as eager for the "entire strangers" to be captured, Mudd is vague and contrary.†   (source)
  • Melisandre had been much in his thoughts as Shayala's Dance made her way across Blackwater Bay and through the Gullet, tacking against perverse contrary winds.†   (source)
  • To let all Luna—yes, and all those earthworms, especially ex-Lunar ex-Authonty—know that we not repudiating Adam Selene, on contrary he was our beloved elder statesman and was not President simply because he chose not to be!†   (source)
  • Contrarily, they were also the eyes of a zealot whose blind dedication was the core of his strength; white heat was in the pupils, lightning in the orbs.†   (source)
  • The contrary.†   (source)
  • On, the contrary, it takes the time-stones of events to give a memory past dimension.†   (source)
  • Edna Graves was much more formidable and contrary.†   (source)
  • It is usually taken for granted that you dream of something that has made a particularly strong impression on you during the day, but it seems to me it's just the contrary.†   (source)
  • But the contrary is also true.†   (source)
  • Moreover, consistent with the courageous philosophy that had governed his return to public life, Lamar was determined not to back down merely because his section was contrary minded.†   (source)
  • That's only the contrary way she talks when you all come," said the first old lady with sudden intimacy.†   (source)
  • Contrarily, I do not think all of you are insane.†   (source)
  • Contrarily, I listened harder.†   (source)
  • "No, you didn't," I said, just to be contrary.†   (source)
  • "For me, it was the contrary," Pari says.†   (source)
  • His mother feigned indifference, as with a contrary pup, though he knew she felt otherwise.†   (source)
  • What possibly could have happened to reunite these contrary souls?†   (source)
  • As the Count looked across at Mishka, he was moved by two contrary currents of emotion.†   (source)
  • The stray seemed just contrary enough to come back after wintering with some adopted family.†   (source)
  • Quite the contrary: he felt better than he had in years.†   (source)
  • Fernanda, quite the contrary, raised her pitch.†   (source)
  • But in a state of disunion, the contrary of this supposition would be almost unavoidable.†   (source)
  • Quite the contrary, sir—it is a privilege and honor.†   (source)
  • If we arbitrarily suppose the contrary, we can deduce anything we want.†   (source)
  • NW: Quite the contrary.†   (source)
  • They would then impose themselves upon us with such force that we couldn't conceive the contrary proposition, or build upon it a theoretic edifice.†   (source)
  • It was not the most benign season on the ocean, due to the December trade winds, and the historic schooner, the only one that would risk the crossing, might find itself blown by a contrary wind back to the port where it had started.†   (source)
  • It wasn't as if Pippa had led me on—quite the contrary; if she cared anything about me she would have come back to New York instead of staying in Europe after school; and still for whatever dumb reason I couldn't let go of the way she'd looked at me the day when I first came to visit, sitting on the side of her bed.†   (source)
  • "Quite the contrary," Hawat said.†   (source)
  • At breakfast, all was silent except for the munching of bread and the slurping of tea, and the shuffling of feet and the snuffling of noses, and the drone of the Bible being read out, which today was Jacob and Esau and the mess of pottage, and the lies that were told and the blessing and birthright that was sold, and the deceptions and disguises that were practised, which God did not mind at all but the contrary.†   (source)
  • The truth is that Florentino Ariza was sure she had not returned, until the telegraph operator in Riohacha confirmed that they had embarked on Friday aboard the very same schooner that did not arrive the day before because of contrary winds, so that during the weekend he watched for any sign of life in her house, and at dusk on Monday he saw through the windows a light that moved through the house and was extinguished, a little after nine, in the bedroom with the balcony.†   (source)
  • However, audacity and steadfastness—entirely contrary means—have sometimes served to produce the same effect….†   (source)
  • One of the pups had been in that contrary mood that came over them sometimes, when they cared more about drama than praise.†   (source)
  • So ten days later, Party Premier Malenkov was forced to pass his chairmanship of the Secretariat to the conservative Khrushchev, setting the stage for a duumvirate of antagonists—a delicate balance of authority between two men of contrary views and ambiguous alliances, which would keep the world guessing for a few years to come.†   (source)
  • And where Nina would not hesitate to cut someone off in mid-assertion in order to make a contrary point and then declare the matter decided once and for all, Sofia would listen so attentively and with such a sympathetic smile that her interlocutor, having been given free rein to express his views at considerable length, often found his voice petering out as he began to question his own premises….†   (source)
  • They didn't handle the smallish boxes roughly; quite the contrary, they placed them with infinite care onto the waist-high lip of concrete.†   (source)
  • But I'm a contrary person.†   (source)
  • Since everything was pink, or had pink incorporated somewhere, I'd decided to be contrary, digging in the very bottom drawer until I found a plain black Onesie and some bright green pants.†   (source)
  • The I prefer Geneva did not mean she refused to make love; quite the contrary, it meant she was tired of limiting their lovemaking to foreign cities.†   (source)
  • "After a detention of nine days by contrary winds," he wrote, "the Constitution took advantage of a brisk breeze, and went out of the harbor and out of sight this afternoon, making a beautiful and noble figure."†   (source)
  • The crew for the most part had been well behaved, no more irritable or contrary than any other group of men.†   (source)
  • Not that he was really bad, but there was something risky about him, something contrary and outrageous.†   (source)
  • It might have been said that she wove during the day and unwove during the night, and not with any hope of defeating solitude in that way, but, quite the contrary, in order to nurture it.†   (source)
  • But we heard contrary views from women with long experience fighting trafficking in the red-light districts of Kolkata.†   (source)
  • The justice of our cause, the hope of success, and every other circumstance that can enliven us, must be put into the scale against those of a contrary kind, which I allow to be serious….†   (source)
  • The "contrary" winds of the afternoon of March 5, the storm that followed that night, and the "weather continuing boisterous the next day and night" were the deciding factors, Howe wrote, in that they gave the enemy still more time to improve their defenses of the Heights.†   (source)
  • Then he thought that Gaston was not as foolish as he appeared, but, quite the contrary, was a man of infinite steadiness, ability, and patience who had set about to conquer his wife with the weariness of eternal agreement, of never saying no, of simulating a limitless conformity, letting her become enmeshed in her own web until the day she could no longer bear the tedium of the illusions close at hand and would pack the bags herself to go back to Europe.†   (source)
  • But it was not an unpleasant feeling; quite the contrary, Sabina had the impression she had just scored a victory and someone invisible was applauding her for it.†   (source)
  • At age thirty-seven, he was at his professional prime but, unlike Howe, a man with no bad habits or inclinations to self-indulgence, and if not as intellectually gifted as Clinton, he had no peevish or contrary side.†   (source)
  • Especially for those who had been with Washington and who knew what a close call it was at the beginning—how often circumstance, storms, contrary winds, the oddities or strengths of individual character had made the difference—the outcome seemed little short of a miracle.†   (source)
  • In a feat of extraordinary seamanship, at the helm and manning oars hour after hour, they negotiated the river's swift, contrary currents in boats so loaded with troops and supplies, horses and cannon, that the water was often but inches below the gunnels— and all in pitch dark, with no running lights.†   (source)
  • Quite the contrary.†   (source)
  • Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor, and the contrary opinion is wishful thinking at its worst.†   (source)
  • BERENGER: No …. no …. he proved the contrary—that the African ones were Asiatic and the Asiatic ones .†   (source)
  • "Yes, both the ride—and you," flashed Carley, contrarily.†   (source)
  • Is there anything you dislike in me that you act so contrarily to my wishes?†   (source)
  • Finally only a door separated us and there we were pulling it in contrary ways.†   (source)
  • He never had it in for me because I broke in on his privacy in the bathroom; just the contrary.†   (source)
  • He was not to think that he was deserting her: it was quite the contrary.†   (source)
  • And it's not that I have anything against you, quite the contrary, I think you're a great architect.†   (source)
  • But now, like a contrary child, the half-caste wanted to start again.†   (source)
  • Mistress Mary, quite contrary, How does your garden grow?†   (source)
  • In spite of all his insults, he did love her and he was just so contrary he didn't want to come out frankly and put it into words, for fear she'd laugh.†   (source)
  • Quite the contrary.†   (source)
  • For it needs little skill in psychology to be sure that a highly gifted girl who had tried to use her gift for poetry would have been so thwarted and hindered by other people, so tortured and pulled asunder by her own contrary instincts, that she must have lost her health and sanity to a certainty.†   (source)
  • Quite the contrary.†   (source)
  • Chance: No, the contrary.†   (source)
  • That irritated me still more, and I told him he wasn't my father; quite the contrary, he was on the others' side.†   (source)
  • If it could somehow have been proved to him that his whole explanation of Shakespeare's rise to fame is mistaken, that inside the English-speaking world, at any rate, Shakespeare's popularity is genuine, that his mere skill in placing one syllable beside another has given acute pleasure to generation after generation of English-speaking people–all this would not have been counted as a merit to Shakespeare, but rather the contrary.†   (source)
  • Then from a strange and contrary fever of love Wang Lung would not go again to the great tea house until the affair was arranged.†   (source)
  • Fray Pedro Simon reports, in his Noticias historiales de las conquistes de Tierra Firme en las Indias Occidentales (Cuenca, 1627), that after work had been begun amongst the peoples of Tunja and Sogamozzo in Colombia, South America, the demon of that place began giving contrary doctrines.†   (source)
  • There was a recess and in the afternoon five doctors said that they thought Bigger was "sane, but sullen and contrary."†   (source)
  • In any case it should not be assumed that he has a morbid taste for such ceremonies; quite the contrary, he much prefers the society of the living and-to give a concrete illustration-sea-bathing.†   (source)
  • He paused and then said, 'When I first came here, madame, the children's nursery rhyme came into my head: 'Mistress Mary, quite contrary, How does your garden grow?†   (source)
  • Let us then say it was praiseworthy that Tarrou and so many others should have elected to prove that two and two make four rather than the contrary; but let us add that this good will of theirs was one that is shared by the schoolmaster and by all who have the same feelings as the schoolmaster, and, be it said to the credit of mankind, they are more numerous than one would think-such, anyhow, is the narrator's conviction.†   (source)
  • Quite the contrary.†   (source)
  • She pointed in a contrary direction, the direction in which he was journeying.†   (source)
  • Joan began to feel that he would live, though everything indicated the contrary.†   (source)
  • Why, on this day of all others, was he so hopelessly contrary?†   (source)
  • They did not want to head out into the wilderness, and on the start were contrary.†   (source)
  • Contrary winds buffeted at the street corner.†   (source)
  • And Seshchetitsky [this was the celebrated specialist] said quite the contrary ….†   (source)
  • "The man's as contrary as air currents or water currents.†   (source)
  • I want everything to go on precisely as usual, until there's cause for the contrary.†   (source)
  • We were to adhere strictly to that plan, unless I had contrary orders, and I have had none.†   (source)
  • But he reassured them the contrary was the case.†   (source)
  • If it is a good soul, it will desire and do the good action, and the contrary if it is a bad soul.†   (source)
  • She knew she felt contrary again, and obstinate, and she did not care at all.†   (source)
  • "The rain is as contrary as I ever was," she said.†   (source)
  • Chapter 2 — Mistress Mary Quite Contrary   (source)
  • Already she felt less "contrary," though she did not know why.†   (source)
  • Mary', quite contrary, How does your garden grow?†   (source)
  • She began to feel hot and as contrary as she had ever felt in her life.†   (source)
  • "Lord bless the boy!" exclaimed my sister, as if she didn't quite mean that but rather the contrary.†   (source)
  • The contrary takes place in ages of equality.†   (source)
  • He was by no means ill-looking; quite the contrary.†   (source)
  • Quite the contrary; you behaved like an angel, like an angel.†   (source)
  • —the one she was most inclined to be severe on, or the contrary?†   (source)
  • You are more horned than a unicorn if you assert the contrary.†   (source)
  • Not that Mr. Stelling was a harsh-tempered or unkind man; quite the contrary.†   (source)
  • I may have praised her for being the contrary, and I should do it again, if I had as good reason.†   (source)
  • "I'll no' say just that; and I'll no' say just the contrary.†   (source)
  • 'Contrary, then,' answered another, in deep but softened tones.†   (source)
  • Or perhaps it's just the contrary and you are convinced that I really think so.†   (source)
  • He did not seem at all disappointed; quite the contrary.†   (source)
  • But the wind was contrary, the sea bad; they tacked and kept offshore.†   (source)
  • And if no one had told him the contrary, he could have persuaded himself so much better.†   (source)
  • I hold that a contrary tendency may distinctly be observed.†   (source)
  • We had to drive those hogs home—ten miles; and no ladies were ever more fickle-minded or contrary.†   (source)
  • "No, madame, I did not say as much as that," replied the count with a smile; "quite the contrary.†   (source)
  • Quite the contrary, I maintain that for a thinking man nothing is a wilderness.†   (source)
  • "No, but you don't say the contrary, as you ought in common gratitude."†   (source)
  • Now, allowing for contrary winds, accidents, and a woman's weakness, there are twelve days."†   (source)
  • 'Contrary ways, please God!' cried Peggotty, with great animation.†   (source)
  • The letter she carried in her pocket all sufficiently reminded her of the contrary.†   (source)
  • Oh no, quite the contrary, quite the contrary!†   (source)
  • And how long ago is it since you said the very contrary?†   (source)
  • "Oh, no, he's a very good man, and I'm not unhappy; quite the contrary, I'm very happy.†   (source)
  • But these are exceptions, and the contrary principle is the rule.†   (source)
  • "No!" exclaimed the father, "quite the contrary! sob! sob! that's right.†   (source)
  • Not that I complain, sir, of the eye of business being distrustful; quite the contrary.†   (source)
  • At any rate, the contrary issue must exclude you from further reception at my house.†   (source)
  • His own father was a good man, and he would readily have fought any one who said the contrary.†   (source)
  • Oh, dear, no, quite the contrary, he's very quiet.†   (source)
  • The greatest advantage of religion is to inspire diametrically contrary principles.†   (source)
  • Of course I'm not," exclaimed Sallie, with an air that proved the contrary.†   (source)
  • Hence proceeded the two-fold contrary tendencies which I have just pointed out.†   (source)
  • Quite the contrary!" shouted Razumihin distressed.†   (source)
  • Now, I care not who maintains the contrary, but all this is both foolish and unnecessary.†   (source)
  • If thinks must go contrary with me, and I must go contrary myself, let me go contrary in my parish.†   (source)
  • Revolution is precisely the contrary of revolt.†   (source)
  • It was the graceful contrary of the stupid side of weakness—especially the feminine variety.†   (source)
  • They have never given ME any vexation; quite the contrary.†   (source)
  • Exceptions to this rule may be met with, but not a contrary principle.†   (source)
  • "I don't think so, quite the contrary," Vronsky said, with quiet surprise.†   (source)
  • Quite the contrary, you may make six or seven thousand instead of three.†   (source)
  • In the contrary event, you can conjecture what awaits you and your son.†   (source)
  • Not that he was so very much ashamed of himself—quite the contrary perhaps.†   (source)
  • These contrary tendencies explain each other.†   (source)
  • How could I expect to be wanted, being so lone and lorn, and so contrary!'†   (source)
  • I trace amongst our contemporaries two contrary notions which are equally injurious.†   (source)
  • "I maintain the contrary," began Sergey Ivanovitch.†   (source)
  • I am a lone lorn creetur', and had much better not make myself contrary here.†   (source)
  • I feel my troubles, and they make me contrary.†   (source)
  • With Sergey Ivanovitch it was quite the contrary.†   (source)
  • But since her visit to Moscow she had done quite the contrary.†   (source)
  • It's quite the contrary; he is always in cheerful spirits abroad, but not as he is here.†   (source)
  • Quite the contrary.†   (source)
  • I had seen enough of the contrary nature of the old sinner to understand that any strong sign of interest would be the surest way to stop his confidences.†   (source)
  • In the years we've rustled together we never had a contrary word till I let Beasley fill my ears with his promises.†   (source)
  • If the milk of human decency is so soured in your breast that you can't hev a kind feelin', then try to avoid the onpleasantness that'll result from any contrary move on your part to-day.†   (source)
  • England was alive, throbbing through all her estuaries, crying for joy through the mouths of all her gulls, and the north wind, with contrary motion, blew stronger against her rising seas.†   (source)
  • When the woman was called upon to testify before the justice of the peace, she swore that the small prisoner at the bar was the person who had committed the theft; there was none able to show the contrary, so the King stood convicted.†   (source)
  • As I was still completely ignorant of the different grades in the social hierarchy, the fact that my father found it impossible for us to see anything of Swann's wife and daughter had, for a long time, had the contrary effect of making me imagine them as separated from us by an enormous gulf, which greatly enhanced their dignity and importance in my eyes.†   (source)
  • It was as though he had sailed for many years over a great waste of waters, with peril and privation, and at last had come upon a fair haven, but as he was about to enter, some contrary wind had arisen and drove him out again into the open sea; and because he had let his mind dwell on these soft meads and pleasant woods of the land, the vast deserts of the ocean filled him with anguish.†   (source)
  • TWO incidents which occurred at this time tended still more to sharpen the contrary points of view holding between Clyde and Roberta.†   (source)
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