counter-offensive
"counter-offensive" is a 16-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“counter-offensive” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 17
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An attack made in response to a previous offensive, and intended to stop it.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | counter-offensive |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 17 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “counter-offensive” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
counter-offensive is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "An attack made in response to a previous offensive, and intended to stop it.".
No misspelling variants are generated for counter-offensive in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: From counter- + offensive. The correct English form is counter-offensive, spelled C-O-U-N-T-E-R---O-F-F-E-N-S-I-V-E.
Definition
- 1An attack made in response to a previous offensive, and intended to stop it.
Etymology
From counter- + offensive.
Synonyms
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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “counter-offensive”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-O-U-N-T-E-R---O-F-F-E-N-S-I-V-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.