Dictionary

contrariwise en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• (US) audio

Etymology

From Middle English contrary-wyse; equivalent to contrary + -wise.

Meanings

1. (literary, not-comparable) In the contrary or opposite way, order, or direction.

contrariwise en · ADV

Pronunciation

• (US) audio

Etymology

From Middle English contrary-wyse; equivalent to contrary + -wise.

Meanings

1. (literary, not-comparable) In the contrary or opposite way, order, or direction.
   • If Burd Ellen had gone “widishins" round the church, she would, I think, have used the best homoeopathic specific against the Elf-King's power; for "to go widishins" was the chief element in elfin practices, and if mortals wished to resist or unspell elf-craft, they, too, had "to go widershins," or they had to repeat the Paternoster backwards, which came to the same thing, or do something else contrariwise. 1891 January 3, I. Gollancz, “Widishins”, in The Academy, London, page 14, column 3:
   • Rain patters on a sea that tilts and sighs. / Fast-running floors, collapsing into hollows, / Tower suddenly, spray-haired. Contrariwise, / A wave drops like a wall: another follows, / Wilting and scrambling 1955, Philip Larkin, “Absences”, in The Less Deceived:
2. (literary, not-comparable) on the other hand

Forms

Relateds

on the contrary