contre

\kɔ̃tʁ\

/\kɔ̃tʁ\/ prep

The verdict

“contre” has 8 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #109. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#109
frequency rank, French
8,609
“C” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - En opposition à ; dans un choc avec ; à l’encontre de.

Corpus desk

Index FR-contre · contre · French

contre · rank #109 · 8 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #109
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,609
  • PHOTO-FINISH bon

Nearest frequency peer: bon (-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.

Frequency neighbourhood for “contre”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “contre” sits against the nearest ranked French headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

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).

contre vs côte
50% similar
contre vs core
67% similar
contre vs coûte
67% similar

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

Key facts for contre
PropertyValue
Headwordcontre
LanguageFrench
Part of speechPreposition
IPA\kɔ̃tʁ\
Letters6
Frequency rank#109
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Où “contre” se place dans la fréquence du français

De gauche à droite: le peu qui porte la parole quotidienne, puis la longue queue quasi invisible.contrese place ici:

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

L'axe est logarithmique: chaque tic marque environ dix fois moins de fréquence. Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « bon » (#108), « votre » (#110), « voir » (#107). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around contre (IPA \kɔ̃tʁ\), apreposition. Corpus frequency is #109 among 8,609 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 7 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for contre, with forms such as "ccontre", "cnotre", and "conntre". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "côte", "core", "coûte", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is contre, spelled C-O-N-T-R-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    En opposition à ; dans un choc avec ; à l’encontre de.
  2. 2
    Malgré, sans avoir égard à ; en dépit de.
  3. 3
    Auprès de, proche de, à côté de.
  4. 4
    À comparer avec. Note : s’emploie uniquement pour établir un contraste entre des chiffres.
  5. 5
    Indique le rapport entre une somme misée et le gain escompté en cas de réussite.
  6. 6
    En échange de
  7. 7
    Indique une direction.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Mettez-vous en garde contre ces belles promesses, elles cachent souvent la plus infame des tromperies.
  2. Ce ne sont que des rochers à pic contre lesquels la mer se brise avec fureur : les vents et les vagues les ont façonnés en pyramides, en tours, en cavernes, en arcades; d'innombrables oiseaux de mer animent le paysage.

Synonyms

Antonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ccontre
  • cnotre
  • conntre
  • conrte
  • contrre
  • conttre
  • cotnre
  • ocntre

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

ccontre1cnotre2conntre1conrte2contrre1conttre1cotnre2ocntre2
Edit distance from "contre"

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 "contre"?
"contre" is spelled C-O-N-T-R-E. The IPA pronunciation is \kɔ̃tʁ\.
What does "contre" mean?
As a preposition, "contre" means: En opposition à ; dans un choc avec ; à l’encontre de.
What words are commonly confused with "contre"?
"contre" is commonly confused with "côte", "core", "coûte". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "contre"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "contre" is \kɔ̃tʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "contre" come from?
"contre" 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 "contre", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

What to do next

You've looked up "contre". Here's where to go from here.

  • "contre" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "côte". View pair
  • 8 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #109 among French headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more French words in the "C" letter cohort. C–Z browse

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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