contravene
/ˌkɒn.tɹəˈviːn/
"contravene" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“contravene” is uncommon English (frequency #66,575 among 5,599 “C” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #66,575
- frequency rank, English
- 5,599
- “C” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To act contrary to an order; to fail to conform to a regulation or obligation.
Corpus desk
Index EN-contravene · contravene · English
contravene · rank #66,575 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #66,575
- LEN-MEGA 10 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 5,599
- PHOTO-FINISH contextually
Nearest frequency peer: contextually (-1 rank slots)
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.
Long-tail ranks near “contravene”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- circumventi…
circumvention
33,438 corpus weight
- coiling
coiling
33,434 corpus weight
- commode
commode
33,432 corpus weight
- contextually
contextually
33,427 corpus weight
- contravene
contravene
33,426 corpus weight
- couturier
couturier
33,418 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “contravene” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | contravene |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˌkɒn.tɹəˈviːn/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #66,575 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “contravene” in English
Rare enough to double-check
contravene is uncommon English at frequency #66,575 among 5,599 “C” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /ˌkɒn.tɹəˈviːn/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
contravene has no tracked misspelling variants, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle French contravenir (French contrevenir), from Latin contraveniō. The correct English form is contravene, spelled C-O-N-T-R-A-V-E-N-E.
Definition
- 1To act contrary to an order; to fail to conform to a regulation or obligation.
- 2To deny the truth of something.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how contravene appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
[…] nothing is a commandement, or a commanded dutie but that which if we contravene, it maketh us guilty of sin before God,
[…] this Article directly contravenes the Treaty with Portugal […]
Etymology
From Middle French contravenir (French contrevenir), from Latin contraveniō.
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); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "contravene", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).