at cross purposes

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

But the incident offers an example of power centers within the party working at cross purposes — in this case, Scott declining to get behind a candidate many viewed as the party’s only chance to win.

From Seattle Times

They pounce, almost too eagerly, on each of the Janacek’s lightning-quick mood changes; and in the Bartok, a piece in which the two instruments work virtually at cross purposes, they achieve an ESP-like mutual responsiveness.

From New York Times

“The key regional players all share a desire for a more stable Afghanistan, and they back the peace process. But the risk is that they will work at cross purposes by supporting competing factions within Afghanistan,” said Michael Kugelman, deputy director of the Asia Program at the U.S.-based Wilson Center.

From Seattle Times

Instead, choices made in the design of the minimum tax — and other elements of the 2017 legislation that worked at cross purposes to it — resulted in “no evidence of a reduction in profit shifting,” wrote Clausing, who is now deputy assistant treasury secretary for tax analysis.

From Washington Post

Vocals were chanted, yelped, muttered and barked, sometimes overlapping at cross purposes.

From New York Times