contrite
/kənˈtɹaɪt/
"contrite" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“contrite” is uncommon English (frequency #54,091 among 43,570 “C” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #54,091
- frequency rank, English
- 43,570
- “C” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Sincerely penitent or feeling regret or sorrow, especially for one’s own actions.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | contrite |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /kənˈtɹaɪt/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #54,091 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “contrite” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
contrite is uncommon English at frequency #54,091 among 43,570 “C” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /kənˈtɹaɪt/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for contrite, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English contrit, from Old French contrit, from Latin contrītus (literally “ground to pieces”), perfect passive participle of conterō (“grind, bruise”), from con- + terō (“rub, wear away”). The correct English form is contrite, spelled C-O-N-T-R-I-T-E.
Definition
- 1Sincerely penitent or feeling regret or sorrow, especially for one’s own actions.
- 2Thoroughly bruised or broken.
Etymology
From Middle English contrit, from Old French contrit, from Latin contrītus (literally “ground to pieces”), perfect passive participle of conterō (“grind, bruise”), from con- + terō (“rub, wear away”).
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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Using “contrite”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-O-N-T-R-I-T-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /kənˈtɹaɪt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
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.