countercurrents
Streams against streams
Countercurrents are currents flowing in the opposite direction from a main current.
In oceanography, they describe water moving against the dominant flow.
The word extends to opposing forces or tendencies within larger movements: There were countercurrents of dissent within the party.
Any situation with competing directional forces—ideas, politics, culture—can have countercurrents running against the prevailing stream.
Dangerous outward current
- undertowSubsurface seaward current
- eddyCircular counter-current
- backflowLiquid reversing course
- tideOcean's cyclical swell
tidal · swirl · vortex · whirlpool · drift · flow · surge · swell
Active opposition or hostility
- contradictionOpposing claims, incompatible together
- counterforceMilitary-targeted strike capability
- clashViolent disagreement or collision
- conflictOpposition between parties
counteraction · rebuttal · antithesis · counterpoint · polarity · rivalry · countervailing · pushback
Chronic majority-opposer
- nonconformityRejection of prevailing norms
- heterodoxyUnorthodox belief or opinion
- iconoclasmAttacking revered traditions
- dissonanceLack of harmony
rebellion · defiance · protest · heresy · dissidence · schism · mutiny · insubordination
riptide
Dangerous outward current
tide · tidal · swirl · vortex · whirlpool · drift · flow · surge · swell · churn
antagonism
Active opposition or hostility
- contradictionOpposing claims, incompatible together
- counterforceMilitary-targeted strike capability
- clashViolent disagreement or collision
conflict · counteraction · rebuttal · antithesis · counterpoint · polarity · rivalry · countervailing · pushback · backlash
contrarian
Chronic majority-opposer
- nonconformityRejection of prevailing norms
- heterodoxyUnorthodox belief or opinion
- iconoclasmAttacking revered traditions
dissonance · rebellion · defiance · protest · heresy · dissidence · schism · mutiny · insubordination · counterculture
subsurface
Below the outer layer
- subliminalBelow threshold of awareness
- latentPresent but inactive
- implicitUnderstood without being stated
unspoken · submerged · covert · veiled · tacit · unseen · underlying · subtext · undertone · beneath
- ocean currentsGulf Stream, rips, gyre, gyres, ocean circulation
countercurrentsmainstream
Dominant cultural current
tidal flow · downstream flow · current · drift · flow
countercurrentsmainstream
Dominant cultural current
prevailing winds · conventional wisdom · status quo · established order · orthodoxy