What does contrario in Italian mean?

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

The word contrario in Italian means opposite, unfavorable, adverse, against, head, opposite, opposite, obstruct, irritate, annoy, back to front, quite the opposite, if anything, in contrast to, be against something, contrarian, awkward customer, Devil's advocate, otherwise, conversely, against, no objections, nothing against it, nothing to the contrary, nothing against something, everything and its opposite, dissenting vote. To learn more, please see the details below.

Listen to pronunciation

Meaning of the word contrario

opposite

aggettivo (opposto, antitetico)

(adjective: Describes a noun or pronoun--for example, "a tall girl," "an interesting book," "a big house.")
Quella macchina sta viaggiando nella direzione contraria alla nostra.
That car is travelling in the opposite direction to us.

unfavorable, adverse, against

aggettivo (sfavorevole, avverso)

(adjective: Describes a noun or pronoun--for example, "a tall girl," "an interesting book," "a big house.")
I miei genitori sono contrari alla mia scelta di abbandonare l'università.
My parents are against my decision to quit university.

head, opposite

aggettivo (che va in direzione opposta)

(adjective: Describes a noun or pronoun--for example, "a tall girl," "an interesting book," "a big house.")
Navigare con il vento contrario è faticoso, oltreché rischioso.
Sailing with a headwind is tiring, as well as dangerous.

opposite

sostantivo maschile (la cosa opposta)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Brutto è il contrario di bello.
Ugly is the opposite of handsome.

obstruct

verbo transitivo o transitivo pronominale (mettersi contro) (plan)

(transitive verb: Verb taking a direct object--for example, "Say something." "She found the cat.")
Mio nonno è un uomo autoritario che non vuole essere contrariato.

irritate, annoy

verbo transitivo o transitivo pronominale (dare fastidio)

(transitive verb: Verb taking a direct object--for example, "Say something." "She found the cat.")
Perché cerchi sempre di contrariarmi senza motivo?

back to front

avverbio (nel modo opposto, inverso) (clothes)

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")
Ops, mi sono messa il maglione al contrario!
Oops, I put my sweater on inside out!

quite the opposite, if anything

avverbio (anzi, invece)

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")
La nostra azienda non ha patito la crisi; al contrario, è stato un anno record per il nostro fatturato.
Our company didn't feel the economic crisis; quite the opposite, we had a record year in terms of revenue.

in contrast to

preposizione o locuzione preposizionale

(preposition: Relates noun or pronoun to another element of sentence--for example, "a picture of John," "She walked from my house to yours.")

be against something

contrarian

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Sono stufo di avere a che fare con bastian contrari come lui.

awkward customer

(figurative)

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

Devil's advocate

otherwise, conversely

locuzione avverbiale (altrimenti)

(conjunction: Connects words, clauses, and sentences--for example, "and," "but," "because," "in order that.")
Se sei d'accordo, possiamo vederci per riparlarne; in caso contrario, meglio che ti rivolgi al tuo avvocato.
If you agree, we can meet to talk about it again; otherwise, it's better if you talk with your lawyer.

against

locuzione aggettivale (contro)

Vuoi andare a vivere da sola? Non ho nulla in contrario, anzi!
Do you want to live on your own? I have nothing against it, quite the contrary in fact!

no objections, nothing against it

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

nothing to the contrary, nothing against something

Non abbiamo nulla in contrario.
We have nothing against it.

everything and its opposite

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

dissenting vote

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

Let's learn Italian

So now that you know more about the meaning of contrario in Italian, 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 Italian.

Do you know about Italian

Italian (italiano) is a Romance language and is spoken by about 70 million people, most of whom live in Italy. Italian uses the Latin alphabet. The letters J, K, W, X and Y do not exist in the standard Italian alphabet, but they still appear in loanwords from Italian. Italian is the second most widely spoken in the European Union with 67 million speakers (15% of the EU population) and it is spoken as a second language by 13.4 million EU citizens (3%). Italian is the principal working language of the Holy See, serving as the lingua franca in the Roman Catholic hierarchy. An important event that helped to the spread of Italian was Napoleon's conquest and occupation of Italy in the early 19th century. This conquest spurred the unification of Italy several decades later and pushed the language of the Italian language. Italian became a language used not only among secretaries, aristocrats and the Italian courts, but also by the bourgeoisie.