King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Chinese symbol for “contradictory”

矛盾
máo dùn
contradiction; 个 (gè); conflicting views; contradictory

The closest CC-CEDICT match for contradictory is 矛盾 (máo dùn), defined as: contradiction; 个 (gè); conflicting views; contradictory.

Before using these characters for a tattoo, check them with a native speaker. Dictionary words often have several meanings, and the right choice depends on context.

Characters and stroke order

矛 máo
spear, lance
radical 110 ⽭ · 5 strokes
盾 dùn
shield; Dutch guilder
radical 109 ⽬ · 9 strokes

Other Chinese words for “contradictory”

WordPinyinMeaning
舛chuǎnmistaken; erroneous
诡 (詭)guǐ(bound form) sly; crafty; (literary) weird; bizarre

Related words

Other words that share a character with 矛盾.

WordPinyinMeaning
矛头 (矛頭)máo tóuspearhead; barb
自相矛盾zì xiāng máo dùnto contradict oneself; self-contradictory
长矛 (長矛)cháng máopike; lance
闹矛盾 (鬧矛盾)nào máo dùnto be at loggerheads; to have a falling out
内部矛盾 (內部矛盾)nèi bù máo dùninternal contradiction
盾牌dùn páishield; pretext
后盾 (後盾)hòu dùnsupport; backing
护盾 (護盾)hù dùn(historical weaponry) shield; (gaming, sci-fi) shield; damage-absorbing barrier

See also: Japanese symbol for “contradictory”.

Data: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0); Unihan Database (Unicode License v3); Make Me a Hanzi (Arphic Public License (graphics.txt); LGPL-3.0-or-later (dictionary.txt)); wordfreq (CC BY-SA 4.0 (data)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.

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