"On the contrary . . ." (6)
<span class="explanation-format__ClueExplanation">'<span class="explanation-format__original">on the contrary</span>' is the definition.<br/ ><span class="explanation-format__explanation">('rather' can precede a statement to the contrary)</span><br/ ><br/ >This is the entire clue.<br/ ></span>
(Other definitions for rather that I've seen before include "Preferably, instead" , "Most certainly" , "On the contrary; more precisely" , "with more justification" , "Pretty" .)