counterintuitive

Name: counterintuitive, English Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

/ˌkaʊntəɹɪnˈtuɪtɪv/

//ˌkaʊntəɹɪnˈtuɪtɪv// adj

By PlainSpell · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed September 3, 2026

The verdict

“counterintuitive” has 23 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #42,072. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#42,072
frequency rank, English: 5,599
“C” headwords: 23
tracked misspellings

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Contrary to intuition or common sense.

Corpus desk

Index EN-counterintuitive · counterintuitive · English

counterintuitive · rank #42,072 · 23 variants · 0 confusables

FREQ-MID #42,072
LEN-MEGA 16 letters
VOW-8 8 vowels
CONFUS-0 No pairs
VAR-HIGH 23 variants
BOOK-DENSE 5,599
PHOTO-FINISH convective

Nearest frequency peer: convective (-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.

congruent

57,932
contributory

57,931
convective

57,930
counterintu…

57,929
coursing

57,928
crowdsourci…

57,927

What this shows “counterintuitive” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Key facts for counterintuitive
Property	Value
Headword	counterintuitive
Language	English
Part of speech	Adjective
IPA	/ˌkaʊntəɹɪnˈtuɪtɪv/
Letters	16
Frequency rank	#42,072
Misspellings tracked	23
Confusable pairs	0
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “counterintuitive”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).counterintuitivelands here:

#42,072

#1#100#1K#10K#100K

← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “convective” (#42,071), “coursing” (#42,073), “contributory” (#42,070). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “counterintuitive” is #42,072. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 23 spelling variants around counterintuitive (IPA /ˌkaʊntəɹɪnˈtuɪtɪv/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #42,072 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Contrary to intuition or common sense.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 23 likely wrong-spelling variants for counterintuitive, with forms such as "ccounterintuitive", "conuterintuitive", and "counetrintuitive". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From counter- + intuitive. Coined by Noam Chomsky in 1955 as “counter-intuitive”. The correct English form is counterintuitive, spelled C-O-U-N-T-E-R-I-N-T-U-I-T-I-V-E.

Definition

1
Contrary to intuition or common sense.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how counterintuitive appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

With the students who worked on drafts in class, a number of aspects of lexicography proved challenging and counterintuitive.

Etymology

From counter- + intuitive. Coined by Noam Chomsky in 1955 as “counter-intuitive”.

Antonyms

intuitive

This word in other languages

contraintuitivo(Español)contre-intuitif(Français)kontraintuitiv(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

ccounterintuitive
conuterintuitive
counetrintuitive
counnterintuitive
counteirntuitive
counterinntuitive
counterintiutive
counterinttuitive
counterintuiitve
counterintuitiev
counterintuitivve
counterintuittive
counterintuitvie
counterintutiive
counterinutitive
counteritnuitive
counternituitive
counterrintuitive
countreintuitive
countterintuitive
coutnerintuitive
cuonterintuitive
ocunterintuitive

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of counterintuitive - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

Edit distance from "counterintuitive"

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

How do you spell "counterintuitive"?

"counterintuitive" is spelled C-O-U-N-T-E-R-I-N-T-U-I-T-I-V-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˌkaʊntəɹɪnˈtuɪtɪv/.

What does "counterintuitive" mean?

As an adjective, "counterintuitive" means: Contrary to intuition or common sense.

What are common misspellings of "counterintuitive"?

Common misspellings include "ccounterintuitive", "conuterintuitive", "counetrintuitive", "counnterintuitive", "counteirntuitive". The correct spelling is "counterintuitive".

How do you pronounce "counterintuitive"?

The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "counterintuitive" is /ˌkaʊntəɹɪnˈtuɪtɪv/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.

What is the origin of the word "counterintuitive"?

From counter- + intuitive. Coined by Noam Chomsky in 1955 as “counter-intuitive”. 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "counterintuitive", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 16 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

environmentalism#42,118 administratively#41,978 miscommunication#41,768 representational#42,863

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (23 here; floor ≥5).

conservationist23 variants hypothyroidism23 variants comprehensible23 variants trustworthiness23 variants