contretemps
French, noun/kɔ̃.tʁə.tɑ̃/
contretemps is spelled C-O-N-T-R-E-T-E-M-P-S (11 letters) and appears about once in every 1 million words in written French, the 35,423rd most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Contretemps is a French masculine noun meaning “offbeat, backbeat” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Accident inopiné qui nuit au succès d’une affaire et qui compromet la réalisation d’un dessein, d’un projet”.
What does contretemps mean in English?
noun
- 1
masculineoffbeat, backbeat
à contretemps
- 2
masculinea contretemps, a hitch, a hold-up, a setback
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
noun: 1. Accident inopiné qui nuit au succès d’une affaire et qui compromet la réalisation d’un dessein, d’un projet. 2. Certain pas. 3. Syncope rythmique qui rompt une accentuation régulière lorsqu'un son, commencé sur un temps faible, est interrompu sur le temps fort qui suit.
The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.
Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of contretemps
- contre-temps
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce contretemps?
- /kɔ̃.tʁə.tɑ̃/
- \kɔ̃.tʁə.tɑ̃\
- [kɔ̃.tʁə.tɑ̃]
Sources: English Wiktionary, French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to contretemps
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is contretemps in French?
contretemps appears about once in every 1 million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).