crosscurrent
Flow against flow
A crosscurrent is a current flowing across or against another current, whether in water or air.
The word extends naturally to conflicting forces or tendencies: crosscurrents of public opinion, political crosscurrents that made consensus impossible.
The plural often describes competing influences within a single situation: The negotiations were complicated by crosscurrents of regional rivalry.
Circular counter-current
- ripTear apart forcibly
- riptideDangerous outward current
- undertowSubsurface seaward current
- tideOcean's cyclical swell
stream · flow · channel · drift · whirlpool · vortex · rapids · estuary
Opposition between parties
- clashViolent disagreement or collision
- tensionStretched or strained state
- frictionResistance between touching surfaces
- discordLack of agreement
contradiction · resistance · pushback · dissent · counterforce · headwind · obstacle · challenge
Movement opposing dominant pattern
- shiftMovement or work period
- movementChange in position
- swingSuspended recreational seat
- directionWay something faces
tendency · momentum · wave · backlash · reaction · reversal · divergence · competing
eddy
Circular counter-current
tide · stream · flow · channel · drift · whirlpool · vortex · rapids · estuary · strait
conflict
Opposition between parties
- clashViolent disagreement or collision
- tensionStretched or strained state
- frictionResistance between touching surfaces
discord · contradiction · resistance · pushback · dissent · counterforce · headwind · obstacle · challenge · competing
countertrend
Movement opposing dominant pattern
direction · tendency · momentum · wave · backlash · reaction · reversal · divergence · competing · forces
underlying
Existing beneath the surface
- latentPresent but inactive
- subtextImplicit meaning beneath words
- implicitUnderstood without being stated
unspoken · covert · subtle · veiled · tacit · subsurface · beneath · subliminal · unseen · tension
- currentsGulf Stream, jet stream, DC, AC
- water currentsflow, riptide, eddy, river flow, eddies
- crossesstone crosses, Celtic crosses, wooden crosses, iron crosses, roadside crosses
- nautical directionsport, starboard, bow, stern, fore
- ocean currentsGulf Stream, surface currents, deep currents, warm currents, cold currents
crosscurrentmainstream
Dominant cultural current
downstream flow · direct current · laminar flow · tidal flow · drift
crosscurrentmainstream
Dominant cultural current
zeitgeist · consensus · orthodoxy · status quo · conventional wisdom
crosscurrentconvergence
Process of approaching sameness
alignment · confluence · single direction · concord · unison