contradiction
/ˌkɑːntɹəˈdɪkʃən/noun
contradiction is spelled C-O-N-T-R-A-D-I-C-T-I-O-N: 13 letters and 4 syllables. It appears 2.8 times per million words in written English, the 16,005th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, contradiction means “The act of contradicting” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of contradiction is contradictions.
How many letters and syllables are in contradiction?
| Letters | 13: C-O-N-T-R-A-D-I-C-T-I-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.8 times per million words; the 16,005th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is contradiction?
Contradiction appears 2.8 times per million words in written English, the 16,005th 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 contradiction?
- UK /ˌkɒntɹəˈdɪkʃən/
- US /ˌkɑːntɹəˈdɪkʃən/
Contradiction has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-contradiction.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with contradiction?
3 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as contradiction from its last stressed vowel (/ɪkʃən/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of contradiction
- contradictions plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does contradiction mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The act of contradicting.
His contradiction of the proposal was very interesting.
- 2
A statement that contradicts itself, i.e., a statement that claims that the same thing is true and that it is false at the same time and in the same senses of the terms.
There is a contradiction in Clarence Page's statement that a woman should have the right to choose and decide for herself whether to have an abortion and at the same time she should not have that right.
- 3
A logical inconsistency among two or more elements or propositions.
Marx believed that the contradictions of capitalism would lead to socialism.
- 4
A proposition that is false for all values of its propositional variables or Boolean atoms.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Contradiction in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | contradiction |
| German | Widerspruch , Gegensatz |
| Portuguese | contradição |
| Spanish | contradicción, contrasentido |
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 contradiction come from?
From Middle English contradiccioun, contradiction, from Old French contradiction, from Latin contrādictiō, from contrādīcō (“speak against”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).