au contraire
/əʊ ˈkɒntɹɛː(ɹ)/
"au-contraire" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“au contraire” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adverb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 12
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - On the contrary.
Corpus desk
Index EN-au-contraire · au contraire · English
au contraire · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 12 letters
- VOW-6 6 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "A" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | au contraire |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adverb |
| IPA | /əʊ ˈkɒntɹɛː(ɹ)/ |
| Letters | 12 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “au contraire” in English
Rare enough to double-check
au contraire is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadverb, transcribed /əʊ ˈkɒntɹɛː(ɹ)/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "On the contrary.".
No generated misspelling entries exist for au contraire in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from French au contraire. The correct English form is au contraire, spelled A-U- -C-O-N-T-R-A-I-R-E.
Definition
- 1On the contrary.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how au contraire appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Travellers have written and spoken so much of the beauty of this celebrated piece of water, that I expected to be disappointed; but, au contraire, I am almost inclined to write a rhapsody myself.
Fembots: (one by one) You can't resist us, Mr. Powers. / Austin Powers: Au contraire, baby. I think that you can't resist me.
Etymology
Borrowed from French au contraire.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.