contradistinction
con·tra·dis·tinc·tion/ˌkɑntɹədɪˈstɪŋkʃən/noun
contradistinction is spelled C-O-N-T-R-A-D-I-S-T-I-N-C-T-I-O-N: 17 letters and 5 syllables (con·tra·dis·tinc·tion). It appears about once in every 20 million words in written English, the 134,976th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, contradistinction means “Distinction by contrast; the provision of one example against which another example may be defined” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of contradistinction is contradistinctions.
How many letters and syllables are in contradistinction?
| Letters | 17: C-O-N-T-R-A-D-I-S-T-I-N-C-T-I-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 5: con·tra·dis·tinc·tion |
| In writing | about once in every 20 million words; the 134,976th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
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).
How common is contradistinction?
Contradistinction appears about once in every 20 million words in written English, the 134,976th 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 contradistinction?
- UK /ˌkɒntɹədɪˈstɪŋkʃn̩/
- US /ˌkɑntɹədɪˈstɪŋkʃən/
Contradistinction has 5 syllables, split con·tra·dis·tinc·tion in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-contradistinction.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of contradistinction
- contradistinctions plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does contradistinction mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Distinction by contrast; the provision of one example against which another example may be defined.
We used hamburgers and soda in contradistinction to healthy food.
- 2
The quality of being contradistinctive.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Contradistinction in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense distinction by contrast:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | contradistinction |
| German | kontradistinktion |
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 contradistinction come from?
From contra- + distinction.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).