against
a·gainst/əˈɡɛnst/preposition
against is spelled A-G-A-I-N-S-T, 2 syllables: a·gainst. The wrong spelling people search most is agaisnt: about 70 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 36 of all searches for the word. Against is a preposition meaning “In a contrary direction to”.
How many letters and syllables are in against?
| Letters | 7: A-G-A-I-N-S-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: a·gainst |
| In writing | 479 times per million words; the 197th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 6; the most searched, agaisnt, about 70 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell against?
Against is spelled A-G-A-I-N-S-T. 6 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 11 of the searches for against in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is against?
Against appears 479 times per million words in written English, the 197th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce against?
- UK /əˈɡɛnst/
- UK /əˈɡeɪnst/
- US /əˈɡɛnst/
Against has 2 syllables, split a·gainst in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-against.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of against
- 'gainst
- gainst
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does against mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
preposition
- 1
In a contrary direction to.
It is hard work to swim against the current.
- 2
In physical opposition to; in collision with.
The rain pounds against the window.
- 3
In physical contact with, so as to abut or be supported by.
The ladder was leaning against the wall.
- 4
Close to, alongside.
A row of trees stood against a fence.
- 5
In front of; before (a background).
The giant was silhouetted against the door.
- 6
In contrast or comparison with.
He stands out against his classmates.
- 7
In competition with, versus.
The Tigers will play against the Bears this weekend.
- 8
Contrary to; in conflict with.
Doing this is against my principles.
conjunction
- 1
obsoleteBy the time that (something happened); before.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Against in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | contre , face à |
| German | gegen , mit , wider |
| Portuguese | contra , perto de , defronte, diante de , em relação a |
| Spanish | contra , en contra , cerca de , frente |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does against come from?
Formed from Middle English ayenes, agenes, againes (“in opposition to”), a southern variant of agen, or directly from again, either way with adverbial genitive singular ending -es; the parasitic -t was added circa 1350, probably by confusion with the superlative ending -est. By surface analysis, again + -st (excrescent ending).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).