contraire

\kɔ̃.tʁɛʁ\

/\kɔ̃.tʁɛʁ\/ noun

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

The verdict

“contraire” has 12 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #868. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#868
frequency rank, French
8,609
“C” headwords
12
tracked misspellings
10
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Concept inverse, logiquement opposé.

Corpus desk

Index FR-contraire · contraire · French

contraire · rank #868 · 12 variants · 10 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #868
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 10 pairs
  • VAR-MID 12 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,609
  • PHOTO-FINISH continue

Nearest frequency peer: continue (-1 rank slots)

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.

Pairs de rang près de l'aimant d'erreurs « contraire »

Même bande de rareté: utile si une faute tombe sur un lemme voisin

corpus weight

What this shows « contraire » siège parmi ces pairs FrequencyWords; la profondeur des fautes est suivie à part dans le graphique d'édition.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

contraire vs contraste
78% similar
contraire vs contrarie
78% similar
contraire vs contraires
90% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for contraire
PropertyValue
Headwordcontraire
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\kɔ̃.tʁɛʁ\
Letters9
Frequency rank#868
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs10
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « contraire »

Cette échelle va du noyau du français courant (gauche) jusqu'à la traîne des formes rares (droite).contrairese place ici:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

L'échelle est logarithmique (chaque tic ≈ 10× plus rare). Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « continue » (#867), « courant » (#869), « combien » (#866). Parmi 8,609 lemmes en « C », « contraire » est au #868. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around contraire (IPA \kɔ̃.tʁɛʁ\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #868 among 8,609 “C” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Concept inverse, logiquement opposé.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for contraire, with forms such as "ccontraire", "cnotraire", and "conntraire". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 10 confusable-pair relationships, "contraste", "contrarie", "contraires", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is contraire, spelled C-O-N-T-R-A-I-R-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Concept inverse, logiquement opposé.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Le contraire d'en haut est en bas.
  2. Vous m’avez dit le contraire.

This word in other languages

opposite(English)contrario(Español)Gegenteil(Deutsch)contrário(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ccontraire
  • cnotraire
  • conntraire
  • conrtaire
  • contarire
  • contraier
  • contrairre
  • contriare
  • contrraire
  • conttraire
  • cotnraire
  • ocntraire

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of contraire - 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.

ccontraire1cnotraire2conntraire1conrtaire2contarire2contraier2contrairre1contriare2
Edit distance from "contraire"

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 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "contraire"?
"contraire" is spelled C-O-N-T-R-A-I-R-E. The IPA pronunciation is \kɔ̃.tʁɛʁ\.
What does "contraire" mean?
As a noun, "contraire" means: Concept inverse, logiquement opposé.
What words are commonly confused with "contraire"?
"contraire" is commonly confused with "contraste", "contrarie", "contraires". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "contraire"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "contraire" is \kɔ̃.tʁɛʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "contraire" come from?
"contraire" 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.

Similar French words by spelling shape

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

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

technique#857prochaine#854comprends#894désormais#898

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).

derniers12 variantsarticles12 variantsentendre12 variantsmajorité12 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list