How to Use contra in a Sentence

contra

noun
  • Which does run a little contra to the whole concept of reading.
    — Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 1 May 2026
  • The author is not dead, contra Roland Barthes—but how, then, to deal with Naipaul and his ilk?
    — Constance Grady, Vox, 18 Aug. 2018
  • At the time, North helped figure out a way to get the contras that support without Congress.
    — Olivia B. Waxman, Time, 7 May 2018
  • Iran-contra was about whether Ronald Reagan secretly traded arms for hostages.
    — Howard Kurtz, Fox News, 21 June 2017
  • Iran-contra, the Whitewater probe that became the Lewinsky probe—have a way of expanding.
    — Howard Kurtz, Fox News, 19 May 2017
  • Organizer Eli Malone was invited by a friend, and the space was their first introduction to contra.
    — Nicole Blackwood, chicagotribune.com, 12 June 2019
  • Una hermosa mujer, 20 años después de presenciar el asesinato de su madre, busca venganza contra el hombre que la mató.
    — Los Angeles Times, 13 Sep. 2019
  • Un ex-convicto participa contra su voluntad en peleas clandestinas para ganar dinero para la operación de una joven.
    — Los Angeles Times, 11 Aug. 2019
  • Un conductor apartó la mirada para leer un texto y se estrelló contra ellos y contra otro hombre, empujando a Mitchell al río.
    — Erika Pasantes Y John Maines, El Sentinel, 6 Feb. 2018
  • Looks like the good old-fashioned square dance, AKA contra dancing, accompanied by a fiddle and a helpful caller, could keep older brains firing on all pistons.
    — Monte Whaley, The Denver Post, 29 Mar. 2017
  • He was involved in many of his era’s highest-profile scandals, including Iran-contra and the Marcos family’s effort to spirit money out of the Philippines.
    — Stephen Kinzer, New York Times, 6 June 2017
  • That’s why these health conditions are called contraindications—the vaccine is indicated for the safety of all children, but a child’s condition means their parents should go against that recommendation (contra).
    — Carolyn L. Todd, SELF, 26 Aug. 2019
  • At the time Ronald Reagan was backing contras to overthrow the revolutionary government, which had deposed the Somoza dictatorship in the late 1970s.
    — Ben Sachs, Chicago Reader, 31 Aug. 2017
  • But, contra ProPublica’s initial reporting (and mine), that wasn’t really the case with the offensive targeting terms allowed by Facebook’s advertising tool.
    — Will Oremus, Slate Magazine, 20 Sep. 2017
  • Those twin developments -- coming hard on top of one another -- go a long way to disrupting the White House's preferred narrative that, contra to what the media reports, Trump has been super, super tough on Russia.
    — Chris Cillizza, CNN, 17 Apr. 2018
  • The dehumanization and torture of people simply seeking a better way of life, fleeing what climate change and American imperialism have wrought, is contra to every purportedly American value.
    — Letter Writers, Twin Cities, 1 Aug. 2019
  • North worked with national security adviser John Poindexter to create a secure communication channel to handle messages regarding arms sales to Iran and the transfer of money to the contras, a militant group in Nicaragua.
    — Deirdre Shesgreen, USA TODAY, 7 May 2018

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'contra.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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