Antonyms for contend
kənˈtɛndcon·tend

WiktionaryRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. contendverb

   Synonyms:
   vie, debate, fight, oppose, combat, strive, dispute, litigate, contest, struggle, emulate

2. contendverb

   to strive in opposition; to contest; to dispute; to vie; to quarrel; to fight.

   For never two such kingdoms did contend without much fall of blood.

   Synonyms:
   emulate, vie, struggle, dispute, debate, strive, contest, oppose, fight, litigate, combat

3. contendverb

   to struggle or exert one's self to obtain or retain possession of, or to defend.

   You sit above, and see vain men below contend for what you only can bestow.

   Synonyms:
   combat, litigate, dispute, debate, emulate, strive, struggle, contest, fight, oppose, vie

4. contendverb

   to strive in debate; to engage in discussion; to dispute; to argue.

   The question which our author would contend for - many things he fiercely contended about were trivial.

   Synonyms:
   emulate, oppose, fight, contest, dispute, litigate, debate, strive, combat, vie, struggle

English Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. contendverb

   To reason is to examine by means of the reason, to prove by reasoning, or to influence or seek to influence others by reasoning or reasons. Persons may contend either from mere ill will or self-interest, or from the highest motives; "That ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered to the saints," Jude 3. To argue (Latin arguo, show) is to make a matter clear by reasoning; to discuss (Latin dis, apart, and quatio, shake) is, etymologically, to shake it apart for examination and analysis. Demonstrate strictly applies to mathematical or exact reasoning; prove may be used in the same sense, but is often applied to reasoning upon matters of fact by what is called probable evidence, which can give only moral and not absolute or mathematical certainty. To demonstrate is to force the mind to a conclusion by irresistible reasoning; to prove is rather to establish a fact by evidence; as, to prove one innocent or guilty. That which has been either demonstrated or proved so as to secure general acceptance is said to be established. Reason is a neutral word, not, like argue, debate, discuss, etc., naturally or necessarily implying contest. We reason about a matter by bringing up all that reason can give us on any side. A dispute may be personal, fractious, and petty; a debate is formal and orderly; if otherwise, it becomes a mere wrangle.

   Synonyms:
   argue, controvert, debate, demonstrate, discuss, dispute, establish, prove, question, reason, reason, wrangle

   Preposition:
   We reason with a person about a subject, for or against an opinion; we reason a person into or out of a course of action; or we may reason down an opponent or opposition; one reasons from a cause to an effect.

Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. contend

   Antonyms:
   resign, concede, allow, relinquish, forego, surrender, waive

   Synonyms:
   strive, compete, cope, dispute, vie, contest, struggle, grapple, argue, maintain, disagree, wrangle

Matched Categories

1. • Oppose

Princeton's WordNetRate these antonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. contend, postulateverb

   maintain or assert

   "He contended that Communism had no future"

   Synonyms:
   fence, fight, ask, demand, make do, involve, need, deal, vie, manage, compete, struggle, necessitate, posit, debate, argue, repugn, postulate, grapple, require, take, cope, make out, get by, call for, contest

2. argue, contend, debate, fenceverb

   have an argument about something

   Synonyms:
   fence, fight, palisade, make do, indicate, consider, turn over, vie, deliberate, deal, postulate, manage, compete, struggle, debate, argue, wall, repugn, grapple, reason, surround, cope, make out, moot, fence in, get by, contest

3. contest, contend, repugnverb

   to make the subject of dispute, contention, or litigation

   "They contested the outcome of the race"

   Synonyms:
   fence, fight, make do, deal, vie, manage, compete, struggle, debate, argue, repugn, postulate, grapple, cope, make out, get by, contest

4. cope, get by, make out, make do, contend, grapple, deal, manageverb

   come to terms with

   "We got by on just a gallon of gas"; "They made do on half a loaf of bread every day"

   Synonyms:
   wield, take, finagle, discern, bang, screw, vie, handle, recognise, deal, grapple, distinguish, debate, repugn, make love, divvy up, do, jazz, spot, roll in the hay, cut, escape, be intimate, get along, address, fight, lot, pick out, get out, portion out, eff, dole out, make do, compete, plow, bed, do it, consider, superintend, have intercourse, make out, share, manage, struggle, tell apart, supervise, neck, apportion, contest, fill in, administer, treat, parcel out, sell, have it away, sleep with, bring off, dispense, get off, dish out, come, issue, love, argue, hump, get laid, fence, negociate, get away, pull off, allot, have it off, get it on, oversee, sleep together, cover, get by, distribute, write out, carry on, carry off, cope, recognize, bonk, know, wangle, mete out, look at, postulate, have sex, complete, grip, care, fare, lie with, deal out, trade, shell out, have a go at it, conduct, fill out

5. compete, vie, contendverb

   compete for something; engage in a contest; measure oneself against others

   Synonyms:
   fence, fight, make do, repugn, deal, vie, manage, struggle, debate, argue, compete, postulate, grapple, cope, make out, get by, contest

6. contend, fight, struggleverb

   be engaged in a fight; carry on a fight

   "the tribesmen fought each other"; "Siblings are always fighting"; "Militant groups are contending for control of the country"

   Synonyms:
   fence, fight, make do, skin, sputter, shinny, agitate, crusade, shin, scramble, press, deal, vie, manage, compete, oppose, struggle, debate, argue, defend, repugn, postulate, grapple, campaign, fight down, cope, make out, fight back, clamber, get by, push, contest

Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated WordsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. contendverb

   Synonyms:
   struggle, vie, wrestle, combat, compete, dispute, maintain, argue

How to use contend in a sentence?

1. Ralph Waldo Emerson, …Journal, 1860:

   The teaching of politics is that the Government, which was set for protection and comfort of all good citizens, becomes the principal obstruction and nuisance with which we have to contend… The cheat and bully and malefactor we meet everywhere is the Government.

2. Gertrude Stein:

   I simply contend that the middle-class ideal which demands that people be affectionate, respectable, honest and content, that they avoid excitements and cultivate serenity is the ideal that appeals to me, it is in short the ideal of affectionate family life, of honorable business methods.

3. Friedrich von Schiller:

   With stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain.

4. Li Xiaoming:

   The competition between me and other interns was so intense, when I see those students who are still trying to go to prestigious international law firms, I feel exhausted and unwilling to contend with them anymore.

5. Marquis de Sade, Justine:

   Will it not be felt that Virtue, however beautiful, becomes the worst of all attitudes when it is found too feeble to contend with Vice...

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