contrasting

adjectiveB2+Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #13,866 of 15,258mostly written

Contrasting means strikingly different, and set side by side on purpose. Contrasting colours, contrasting styles, a contrasting trim.

The on purpose is the point — contrasting things are placed together to make the difference visible, which is why the word belongs to design and to argument alike. In colour, the strongest contrasts are between opposite sides of the wheel.

Definitions of contrasting

1adjectivecontrastingStrikingly different, and set side by side on purpose.B2+
“The designer chose contrasting colours, pairing a black sofa with bright yellow cushions.”

contrasting is a quality of difference.

Where it comes from

Latin
contrāstō — to resist", "to withstand
French
contraster
English
contrast
English, today
contrasting

Built from

contrā · Latin — against
stō · Latin — to stand

From contrast + -ing. contrast comes from French contraster, from Latin contrāstō (“to resist", "to withstand”), from contrā (“against”) + stō (“to stand”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Colours & Patterns

Practise this word

contrasting in the wild

Contrasting song forms include through-composed, with new music written for every stanza, and ternary form, with a contrasting central section.
Strophic form
In music, especially Western popular music, a bridge is a contrasting section that prepares for the return of the original material section.
Bridge (music)
The pieces are often not literally white and black, but usually contrasting light and dark colors.
White and Black in chess

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the contrāstō family

contrast

contrasting — used about once every 33,333 pages · #13,866 · point at the bar for the others

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