contumacy
con·tu·ma·cy/ˈkɒntjʊməsi/noun
contumacy is spelled C-O-N-T-U-M-A-C-Y: 9 letters and 4 syllables (con·tu·ma·cy). It appears about once in every 72 million words in written English, the 269,040th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, contumacy means “Disobedience, resistance to authority” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of contumacy is contumacies.
How many letters and syllables are in contumacy?
| Letters | 9: C-O-N-T-U-M-A-C-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4: con·tu·ma·cy |
| In writing | about once in every 72 million words; the 269,040th 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 contumacy?
Contumacy appears about once in every 72 million words in written English, the 269,040th 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 contumacy?
- UK /ˈkɒntjʊməsi/
Contumacy has 4 syllables, split con·tu·ma·cy in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-contumacy.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of contumacy
- contumacies plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does contumacy mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Disobedience, resistance to authority.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Contumacy in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense disobedience, resistance to authority:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | contumace, désobéissance |
| German | Widerspenstigkeit, Verstocktheit, Gehorsamsverweigerung |
| Portuguese | contumácia, revelia |
| Spanish | contumacia |
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 contumacy come from?
From Latin contumācia, from contumāx (“refusing to appear in a court of law in disobedience of a summons; insolent, obstinate, stiff-necked”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).