counterweigh
/kaʊntəˈweɪ/
"counterweigh" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“counterweigh” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 12
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To act as counterbalance (against something).
Corpus desk
Index EN-counterweigh · counterweigh · English
counterweigh · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 12 letters
- VOW-5 5 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "C" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | counterweigh |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /kaʊntəˈweɪ/ |
| Letters | 12 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “counterweigh” in English
Rare enough to double-check
counterweigh is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed /kaʊntəˈweɪ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
counterweigh has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. 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: From counter- + weigh, under the influence Anglo-Norman contrepeser (“to counterpoise”). The correct English form is counterweigh, spelled C-O-U-N-T-E-R-W-E-I-G-H.
Definition
- 1To act as counterbalance (against something).
- 2To counterbalance; to balance out.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how counterweigh appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Yet Francis's favour could not counterweigh the disastrous flaw in European Christian mission in Africa, its association with the Portuguese slave trade.
Etymology
From counter- + weigh, under the influence Anglo-Norman contrepeser (“to counterpoise”).
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.