contrebasse

\kɔ̃.tʁə.bas\

/\kɔ̃.tʁə.bas\/ noun

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

The verdict

“contrebasse” has 15 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #35,442. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#35,442
frequency rank, French
8,609
“C” headwords
15
tracked misspellings
2
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Le plus grand et le plus grave des instruments à cordes qui sonne une octave au-dessous de la basse ordinaire.

Corpus desk

Index FR-contrebasse · contrebasse · French

contrebasse · rank #35,442 · 15 variants · 2 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #35,442
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 2 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 15 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,609
  • PHOTO-FINISH contretemps

Nearest frequency peer: contretemps (+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 « contrebasse »

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

corpus weight

What this shows « contrebasse » 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).

contrebasse vs contrebas
82% similar
contrebasse vs contrebande
82% similar

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

Key facts for contrebasse
PropertyValue
Headwordcontrebasse
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\kɔ̃.tʁə.bas\
Letters11
Frequency rank#35,442
Misspellings tracked15
Confusable pairs2
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « contrebasse »

De gauche à droite: le peu qui porte la parole quotidienne, puis la longue queue quasi invisible.contrebassese 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 « contretemps » (#35,443), « contingents » (#35,440), « convergences » (#35,444). Parmi 8,609 lemmes en « C », « contrebasse » est au #35,442. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 15 spelling variants around contrebasse (IPA \kɔ̃.tʁə.bas\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #35,442 among 8,609 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 15 likely wrong-spelling variants for contrebasse, with forms such as "ccontrebasse", "cnotrebasse", and "conntrebasse". 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 2 confusable-pair relationships, "contrebas", "contrebande", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct French form is contrebasse, spelled C-O-N-T-R-E-B-A-S-S-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Le plus grand et le plus grave des instruments à cordes qui sonne une octave au-dessous de la basse ordinaire.
  2. 2
    Dans un ensemble ou un orchestre, musicien qui joue de cet instrument.
  3. 3
    Voix d’homme qui est la plus basse de toutes.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Elle sera accompagnée par les musiciens de la compagnie Du souffle aux cordes Philippe Pouchard à la guitare, Marc Estrade à la guitare et au banjo et Jérôme Gast à la contrebasse.
  2. L’Opéra de Chicago commanda, en 1905, une contrebasse géante au luthier allemand Otto Roth, de Markneukirchen.

This word in other languages

double bass(English)contrabajo(Español)Kontrabass(Deutsch)contrabaixo(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ccontrebasse
  • cnotrebasse
  • conntrebasse
  • conrtebasse
  • conterbasse
  • contrbeasse
  • contreabsse
  • contrebase
  • contrebases
  • contrebbasse
  • contrebsase
  • contrrebasse
  • conttrebasse
  • cotnrebasse
  • ocntrebasse

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of contrebasse - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

ccontrebasse1cnotrebasse2conntrebasse1conrtebasse2conterbasse2contrbeasse2contreabsse2contrebase1
Edit distance from "contrebasse"

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 "contrebasse"?
"contrebasse" is spelled C-O-N-T-R-E-B-A-S-S-E. The IPA pronunciation is \kɔ̃.tʁə.bas\.
What does "contrebasse" mean?
As a noun, "contrebasse" means: Le plus grand et le plus grave des instruments à cordes qui sonne une octave au-dessous de la basse ordinaire.
What words are commonly confused with "contrebasse"?
"contrebasse" is commonly confused with "contrebas", "contrebande". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "contrebasse"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "contrebasse" is \kɔ̃.tʁə.bas\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "contrebasse" come from?
"contrebasse" 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.

Similar French words by spelling shape

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

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

contretemps#35,443contingents#35,440congénitale#35,438choisissons#35,426

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (15 here; floor ≥5).

contentait15 variantsconfluence15 variantsconcourent15 variantsdogmatisme15 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list