à contre-cœur

\a kɔ̃.tʁə.kœʁ\

/\a kɔ̃.tʁə.kœʁ\/ adv

The verdict

“à contre-cœur” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adverb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
13
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Variante de à contrecœur.

Corpus desk

Index FR-a-contre-c-ur · à contre-cœur · French

à contre-cœur · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 13 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "À" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for à contre-cœur
PropertyValue
Headwordà contre-cœur
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdverb
IPA\a kɔ̃.tʁə.kœʁ\
Letters13
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « à contre-cœur » en français

à contre-cœurreste hors des 100.000 mots français les plus fréquents, dans la longue queue du vocabulaire technique, archaïque ou rare, là où le doute d'orthographe frappe.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

à contre-cœur is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anadverb, transcribed \a kɔ̃.tʁə.kœʁ\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Variante de à contrecœur.".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for à contre-cœur, suggesting the orthography follows predictable French patterns. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct French form is à contre-cœur, spelled À- -C-O-N-T-R-E---C-Œ-U-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Variante de à contrecœur.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Que veut dire ce drôle ? demanda Front-de-Bœuf en regardant ses domestiques, qui, lentement et à contre-cœur, avouèrent que, si ce n’était pas là Cédric, ils ne savaient ce qu’il était devenu.
  2. Je causais avec Julie, qui n’avait dansé qu’à contre-cœur et ne dansait plus, quand il entra

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

How do you spell "à contre-cœur"?
"à contre-cœur" is spelled À- -C-O-N-T-R-E---C-Œ-U-R. The IPA pronunciation is \a kɔ̃.tʁə.kœʁ\.
What does "à contre-cœur" mean?
As an adverb, "à contre-cœur" means: Variante de à contrecœur.
How do you pronounce "à contre-cœur"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "à contre-cœur" is \a kɔ̃.tʁə.kœʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "à contre-cœur" come from?
"à contre-cœur" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list