Meaning & use
contrarians
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“contrarians” is a form of “contrarian”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
nounplural
Plural of contrarian: people who deliberately take a view opposite to the popular or expected one.
Grammar: Countable plural: the contrarians disagreed with everyone.
Patterns
- contrarians in something
The committee included a few contrarians who questioned every proposal.
Contrarians in the group enjoy arguing the unpopular side.
Some contrarians in class say the book is overrated simply because everyone loves it.
nounpluralfinance
Investors who buy when most others are selling and sell when most are buying, betting that the crowd is wrong.
Grammar: Used in finance for investors.
Contrarians bought stocks while the market was crashing.
Market contrarians often profit when sentiment turns.
The fund manager is among the contrarians who avoid popular stocks.
Common combinations
- market contrarians
- Market contrarians buy what others avoid.
- a few contrarians
- A few contrarians doubted the plan.
- self-styled contrarians
- Self-styled contrarians love to stir debate.
- contrarians argue
- Contrarians argue against any popular view.
Synonyms and how they differ
- dissenters
- Dissenters openly disagree with an official view, whereas contrarians disagree with the crowd on principle.
- skeptics
- Skeptics doubt claims because evidence is lacking, but contrarians oppose popular views even without doubt.
- nonconformists
- Nonconformists reject social norms in behavior, while contrarians mainly reject opinions.
Opposites
Word family
- contrarian noun
- a person who opposes the majority view
- contrarian adjective
- opposing popular opinion
- contrary adjective
- opposite or opposed
- contrariness noun
- the habit of opposing others
Commonly confused: contrarians or contraries?
contrarians vs contraries
Contraries are things that are opposite to each other, not people who oppose the majority.
Practice
Investors who buy stocks when everyone else is selling are often called ___.
Choose one answer.
Contrarians go against the crowd. Conformists do the opposite, following the crowd.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “contrarians”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.