# contrast

Pronunciation: US say "KON-trast" /ˈkɑnt(ʃ)ɹæst/; UK say "KON-trahst" /ˈkɒntɹɑːst/

## Noun

1. The way in which two things, people, or ideas differ from each other.
   - Simple: A clear difference between two things, people, or ideas.
   - _The contrast between the city center and the quiet suburbs surprised her._
   - _Economists noted sharp contrasts between the two regions' growth rates._
2. A person or thing that is strikingly different from or opposite to another.
   - Simple: A thing that is very different from another thing.
   - _The painting's dark background is a striking contrast to the bright figures in front._
   - _His simple lifestyle stood as a contrast to his enormous wealth._
5. A difference in lightness, brightness, or hue between two colors that makes them more or less easy to tell apart.
   - Simple: A difference in lightness, brightness, or shade between two colors that makes them easier or harder to tell apart.
   - _Accessibility guidelines warn that light gray text on a white page produces a contrast too weak for many readers._
   - _The painter set orange flowers against a deep blue sky, and the contrasts between warm and cool hues give the canvas its energy._
6. A control on a television or similar device that adjusts the amount of difference between light and dark in the displayed image.
   - Simple: The setting on a screen that changes how light and dark the picture looks.
   - _He adjusted the contrast until the picture looked right._
   - _Older sets had physical dials for brightness and contrast._
7. Direct opposition; the placing of contrary ideas against one another, especially as a rhetorical device.
   - Simple: The use of opposite ideas placed close together for effect.
   - _The novel turns on the contrast between freedom and duty._
   - _Rhetorical contrast (light versus dark, life versus death) drives the elegy._
8. A substance introduced into the body to make particular tissues or vessels show up more clearly on a medical scan.
   - Simple: A special liquid put into the body so that certain parts show up clearly on a scan.
   - _The radiologist injected contrast to highlight the blood vessels._
   - _She had a mild reaction to the contrast used in her CT scan._

## Verb

Pronunciation: US say "kuhn-TRAST" /kənˈt(ʃ)ɹæst/; UK say "kuhn-TRAHST" /kənˈtɹɑːst/

3. To place two things side by side in order to show the differences between them.
   - Simple: To compare two things to show how they differ.
   - _The essay contrasts modern farming methods with traditional ones._
   - _Reviewers often contrast the director's early films with her later work._
4. To form a contrast; to stand out as noticeably different from something else.
   - Simple: To be clearly different from something else.
   - _The somber tone of the opening contrasts with the comedy that follows._
   - _Sharp shadows contrast against the pale stone walls._

## Origin

It came through French contraster from Italian contrastare ("to resist, to withstand"), which traces back through Vulgar Latin to Latin contrā ("against") plus stō, stāre ("to stand").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/contrast (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).