bien au contraire

\bjɛ̃.n‿o kɔ̃.tʁɛʁ\

/\bjɛ̃.n‿o kɔ̃.tʁɛʁ\/ adv

The verdict

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

Unranked
below top-frequency French
17
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Au contraire.

Corpus desk

Index FR-bien-au-contraire · bien au contraire · French

bien au contraire · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 17 letters
  • VOW-8 8 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "B" 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 bien au contraire
PropertyValue
Headwordbien au contraire
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdverb
IPA\bjɛ̃.n‿o kɔ̃.tʁɛʁ\
Letters17
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « bien au contraire » en français

bien au contrairen'entre pas dans le top 100.000 du français: zone de termes techniques, archaïques ou rares.

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

Rare enough to double-check

bien au contraire is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anadverb, transcribed \bjɛ̃.n‿o kɔ̃.tʁɛʁ\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Au contraire.".

No generated misspelling entries exist for bien au contraire in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable French patterns. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is bien au contraire, spelled B-I-E-N- -A-U- -C-O-N-T-R-A-I-R-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Au contraire.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Oh ! non, bien au contraire ! — Bien au contraire! Oh ! voilà un bien au contraire qui signifie bien des choses. Elle t’aime, allons, et tu l’aimes aussi, je vois cela, et je le vois avec plaisir.
  2. Il fallait qu'on vous le dise c'est dit c'est fait Si nous passions maintenant à tout autre chose Soyons plus positif rien ne sert d'être trop triste Au contraire Bien au contraire

Synonyms

tout au contraireque du contraire

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 "bien au contraire"?
"bien au contraire" is spelled B-I-E-N- -A-U- -C-O-N-T-R-A-I-R-E. The IPA pronunciation is \bjɛ̃.n‿o kɔ̃.tʁɛʁ\.
What does "bien au contraire" mean?
As an adverb, "bien au contraire" means: Au contraire.
How do you pronounce "bien au contraire"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "bien au contraire" is \bjɛ̃.n‿o kɔ̃.tʁɛʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "bien au contraire" come from?
"bien au contraire" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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