What does contraire in French mean?

What is the meaning of the word contraire in French? The article explains the full meaning, pronunciation along with bilingual examples and instructions on how to use contraire in French.

The word contraire in French means the opposite, opposite, against, detrimental to, on the contrary, quite the contrary, quite the opposite, quite the reverse, believe the opposite, otherwise, make conflicting arguments, opposite effect, opposite effect, until proven otherwise, it could hardly have been otherwise, anything else would have been astonishing, unless I hear otherwise, unless otherwise stated, convince yourself of the opposite, quite the opposite. To learn more, please see the details below.

Listen to pronunciation

Meaning of the word contraire

the opposite

nom masculin (inverse)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Pour visser, on tourne de gauche à droite, pour dévisser, c'est le contraire.
To tighten a screw, you turn from left to right; to unscrew it, it's the opposite.

opposite

adjectif (inverse)

(adjective: Describes a noun or pronoun--for example, "a tall girl," "an interesting book," "a big house.")
La circulation se fait en sens contraire.
Traffic flows in the opposite direction.

against

(incompatible)

(preposition: Relates noun or pronoun to another element of sentence--for example, "a picture of John," "She walked from my house to yours.")
Cette action est contraire à la loi.
What you're doing is against the law.

detrimental to

(défavorable)

Sa décision est contraire à notre bonne entente.
His decision is detrimental to our good relationship.

on the contrary

locution adverbiale (à l'inverse)

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")
Si ça me gêne ? Au contraire, je serais ravi de te rendre service !
Do I mind? On the contrary, I would be delighted to help you!

quite the contrary, quite the opposite, quite the reverse

locution adverbiale (à l'inverse)

(adverb: Describes a verb, adjective, adverb, or clause--for example, "come quickly," "very rare," "happening now," "fall down.")

believe the opposite

locution verbale (penser l'inverse)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")

otherwise

locution adverbiale (sinon)

(adverb: Describes a verb, adjective, adverb, or clause--for example, "come quickly," "very rare," "happening now," "fall down.")
Si vous avez des enfants, faites le parcours bleu. Dans le cas contraire, le parcours rouge s'offre à vous.
If you have children, take the blue route. Otherwise, the red route is an option.

make conflicting arguments

locution verbale (raconter n'importe quoi)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")

opposite effect

nom masculin (opposition)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)

opposite effect

nom masculin (équilibre)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)

until proven otherwise

locution adverbiale (en attendant de voir autre chose)

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")

it could hardly have been otherwise, anything else would have been astonishing

(c'était prévisible)

unless I hear otherwise

locution adverbiale (s'il n'y a pas d'opposition déclarée)

unless otherwise stated

(uniquement si nécessaire)

convince yourself of the opposite

(changer d'avis)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")

quite the opposite

locution adverbiale (à l'inverse)

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")

Let's learn French

So now that you know more about the meaning of contraire in French, you can learn how to use them through selected examples and how to read them. And remember to learn the related words that we suggest. Our website is constantly updating with new words and new examples so you can look up the meanings of other words you don't know in French.

Do you know about French

French (le français) is a Romance language. Like Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish, it comes from popular Latin, once used in the Roman Empire. A French-speaking person or country can be called a "Francophone". French is the official language in 29 countries. French is the fourth most spoken native language in the European Union. French ranks third in the EU, after English and German, and is the second most widely taught language after English. The majority of the world's French-speaking population lives in Africa, with about 141 million Africans from 34 countries and territories who can speak French as a first or second language. French is the second most widely spoken language in Canada, after English, and both are official languages at the federal level. It is the first language of 9.5 million people or 29% and the second language of 2.07 million people or 6% of the entire population of Canada. In contrast to other continents, French has no popularity in Asia. Currently, no country in Asia recognizes French as an official language.