Advertisement
Advertisement
contradiction in terms
Idioms and Phrases
A statement that seems to contradict itself, with one part of it denying another. For example, I've always believed that “a poor millionaire” was a contradiction in terms . [Late 1700s]Example Sentences
Despite having been converted by a gangster, he regards the idea of religious criminals as a contradiction in terms.
This might seem a contradiction in terms, but the strategy appears clear from his words, including the highly personal attack on his successor, President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Constitutional law scholar John Hart Ely once scoffed that “ ‘substantive due process’ is a contradiction in terms — sort of like ‘green pastel redness.’
The very notion of a republican king was a repudiation of the spirit of’76 and a contradiction in terms.
Similarly, the claim that thriving multiethnic democracy is a contradiction in terms may come as news to citizens of places like Canada, New Zealand, Switzerland, Ghana and Botswana — often-cited examples of successful diverse democracies.
Advertisement
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Browse