cross-purpose

[ kraws-pur-puhs, kros- ]
See synonyms for: cross-purposecross-purposes on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. an opposing or contrary purpose.

Idioms about cross-purpose

  1. at cross-purposes, in a way that involves or produces mutual misunderstanding or frustration, usually unintentionally.

Origin of cross-purpose

1
First recorded in 1660–70

Words Nearby cross-purpose

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use cross-purpose in a sentence

  • It seems someway unlike God to make each person a something all of cross-purpose.

    I, Mary MacLane | Mary MacLane
  • I am not prone on my green couch, frayed, frazzled, bowed-down in spirit from a day of frightful stress and cross-purpose.

    I, Mary MacLane | Mary MacLane
  • I do not excuse Sunna, but I say that wherever there is a cross purpose, there has likely never been a straight one.

    An Orkney Maid | Amelia Edith Huddleston Barr
  • If we find every fact of life at cross-purpose with Scripture, what then?

    The Call of the Town | John Alexander Hammerton

British Dictionary definitions for cross-purpose

cross-purpose

noun
  1. a contrary aim or purpose

  2. at cross-purposes conflicting; opposed; disagreeing

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012