to the contrary
Expression change
Expression |
- You use to the contrary when you want to stress that the truth is the opposite of what was believed.
- Synonym: on the contrary
- He did not refuse. To the contrary, he told his them he would be happy to accept.
Usage change
The sentence before to the contrary is negative and the sentence with to the contrary is positive, but they make the same claim about the same subject (e.g., X is not short. To the contrary, it is tall.).
Don't confuse this with in contrast. You use in contrast to say different things about different subjects (e.g., X is short. In contrast, Y is tall.).