à contrecœur

\a kɔ̃.tʁə.kœʁ\

/\a kɔ̃.tʁə.kœʁ\/ adv

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

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

Unranked
below top-frequency French
12
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - À regret ; avec répugnance ; malgré soi.

Key facts for à contrecœur
PropertyValue
Headwordà contrecœur
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdverb
IPA\a kɔ̃.tʁə.kœʁ\
Letters12
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “à contrecœur” sits in French frequency

à contrecœur falls outside the top-100,000 ranked French words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

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

Rare enough to double-check

à contrecœur 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: "À regret ; avec répugnance ; malgré soi.".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for à contrecœur, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable French rules. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is à contrecœur, spelled À- -C-O-N-T-R-E-C-Œ-U-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    À regret ; avec répugnance ; malgré soi.

Synonyms

à reculonsà son corps défendant

This word in other languages

loathingly(English)a regañadientes(Español)ungern(Deutsch)

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 contrecœur"?
"à contrecœur" is spelled À- -C-O-N-T-R-E-C-Œ-U-R. The IPA pronunciation is \a kɔ̃.tʁə.kœʁ\.
What does "à contrecœur" mean?
As an adverb, "à contrecœur" means: À regret ; avec répugnance ; malgré soi.
How do you pronounce "à contrecœur"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "à contrecœur" 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 contrecœur" come from?
"à contrecœur" 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.

Using “à contrecœur”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct French spelling is À- -C-O-N-T-R-E-C-Œ-U-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \a kɔ̃.tʁə.kœʁ\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list