contra
[ˈkɔntʁa]
The verdict
“contra” is a moderately-common German word, ranked #13,117 in German word frequency and used as a preposition.
- #13,117
- frequency rank, German
- 6
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 12
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - gegen, wider
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | contra |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Preposition |
| IPA | [ˈkɔntʁa] |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #13,117 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 12 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “contra” sits in German frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The German entry for contra is 6 letters long, classified as a preposition, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈkɔntʁa]. Corpus data places it at rank #13,117 in overall German word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "gegen, wider".
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for contra, with forms such as "ccontra", "cnotra", and "conntra". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 12 confusable-pair relationships, "cora", "costa", "country", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct German form is contra, spelled C-O-N-T-R-A.
Definition
- 1gegen, wider
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ccontra,cnotra,conntra,conrta,contar,contrra,conttra,cotnra,ocntra
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of contra - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “contra”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is C-O-N-T-R-A - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ˈkɔntʁa] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “cora” - see the side-by-side comparison. contra vs cora
- Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.