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# contradistinction

«contradistinction» in Mova's school dictionary: **telling two things apart by showing how they are opposite…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

noun (contradistinction — usually uncountable, mostly in «in contradistinction to»)

### meaning for a pupil

(formal) Contradistinction is telling two things apart by showing how they are opposite or different. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/contradistinction/#m1)

### sense in the lessons

A stiff, formal word used in books and essays, almost always in the phrase «in contradistinction to», which means «as opposed to» or «unlike». In school it may appear in exam texts; in your own writing «unlike» or «in contrast to» is clearer.

### examples

- Mammals feed their babies milk, in contradistinction to reptiles, which do not. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/contradistinction/#x1)
- The essay described day, in contradistinction to night. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/contradistinction/#x2)
- Facts, in contradistinction to opinions, can be checked. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/contradistinction/#x3)
- The writer drew a contradistinction between bravery and foolishness. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/contradistinction/#x4)
- Living things, in contradistinction to rocks, grow and reproduce. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/contradistinction/#x5)
- In contradistinction to his noisy brother, Tom was very quiet. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/contradistinction/#x6)

### note

Formal and rare. Simpler choices: «unlike», «as opposed to», «in contrast to». Do not confuse it with contradiction (saying the opposite of something).

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «contradistinction» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/contradistinction/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.