contristate

verb

"contristate" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“contristate” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
11
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To make sorrowful; to sadden or grieve.

Key facts for contristate
PropertyValue
Headwordcontristate
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
Letters11
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “contristate” sits in English frequency

contristate falls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

contristate is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "To make sorrowful; to sadden or grieve.".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for contristate, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: First attested in 1616; borrowed from Latin contrīstātus, perfect passive participle of contrīstō (“to sadden”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix). Doublet of contrist. The correct English form is contristate, spelled C-O-N-T-R-I-S-T-A-T-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    To make sorrowful; to sadden or grieve.

Etymology

First attested in 1616; borrowed from Latin contrīstātus, perfect passive participle of contrīstō (“to sadden”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix). Doublet of contrist.

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.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "contristate"?
"contristate" is spelled C-O-N-T-R-I-S-T-A-T-E.
What does "contristate" mean?
As a verb, "contristate" means: To make sorrowful; to sadden or grieve.
What is the origin of the word "contristate"?
First attested in 1616; borrowed from Latin contrīstātus, perfect passive participle of contrīstō (“to sadden”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix). Doublet of contrist. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “contristate”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is C-O-N-T-R-I-S-T-A-T-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list