contretemps

\kɔ̃.tʁə.tɑ̃\

/\kɔ̃.tʁə.tɑ̃\/ noun

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

The verdict

“contretemps” has 18 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #35,443. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#35,443
frequency rank, French
8,609
“C” headwords
18
tracked misspellings

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Accident inopiné qui nuit au succès d’une affaire et qui compromet la réalisation d’un dessein, d’un projet.

Corpus desk

Index FR-contretemps · contretemps · French

contretemps · rank #35,443 · 18 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #35,443
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 18 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,609
  • PHOTO-FINISH contrebasse

Nearest frequency peer: contrebasse (-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 « contretemps »

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

corpus weight

What this shows « contretemps » 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
Key facts for contretemps
PropertyValue
Headwordcontretemps
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\kɔ̃.tʁə.tɑ̃\
Letters11
Frequency rank#35,443
Misspellings tracked18
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « contretemps »

La fréquence va de la poignée de mots du quotidien (gauche) à la longue queue presque jamais vue (droite).contretempsse 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 « contrebasse » (#35,442), « convergences » (#35,444), « convertisseur » (#35,445). Parmi 8,609 lemmes en « C », « contretemps » est au #35,443. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 18 spelling variants around contretemps (IPA \kɔ̃.tʁə.tɑ̃\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #35,443 among 8,609 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 18 likely wrong-spelling variants for contretemps, with forms such as "ccontretemps", "cnotretemps", and "conntretemps". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is contretemps, spelled C-O-N-T-R-E-T-E-M-P-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Accident inopiné qui nuit au succès d’une affaire et qui compromet la réalisation d’un dessein, d’un projet.
  2. 2
    Certain pas.
  3. 3
    Syncope rythmique qui rompt une accentuation régulière lorsqu'un son, commencé sur un temps faible, est interrompu sur le temps fort qui suit.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Il est arrivé un fâcheux contretemps dans cette affaire.
  2. Quel contretemps !

This word in other languages

setback(English)contratiempo(Español)Hindernis(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ccontretemps
  • cnotretemps
  • conntretemps
  • conrtetemps
  • contertemps
  • contreetmps
  • contretemmps
  • contretempps
  • contretempss
  • contretemsp
  • contretepms
  • contretmeps
  • contrettemps
  • contrretemps
  • contrteemps
  • conttretemps
  • cotnretemps
  • ocntretemps

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

ccontretemps1cnotretemps2conntretemps1conrtetemps2contertemps2contreetmps2contretemmps1contretempps1
Edit distance from "contretemps"

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 "contretemps"?
"contretemps" is spelled C-O-N-T-R-E-T-E-M-P-S. The IPA pronunciation is \kɔ̃.tʁə.tɑ̃\.
What does "contretemps" mean?
As a noun, "contretemps" means: Accident inopiné qui nuit au succès d’une affaire et qui compromet la réalisation d’un dessein, d’un projet.
What are common misspellings of "contretemps"?
Common misspellings include "ccontretemps", "cnotretemps", "conntretemps", "conrtetemps", "contertemps". The correct spelling is "contretemps".
How do you pronounce "contretemps"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "contretemps" is \kɔ̃.tʁə.tɑ̃\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "contretemps" come from?
"contretemps" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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 "contretemps", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

contrebasse#35,442contingents#35,440congénitale#35,438choisissons#35,426

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (18 here; floor ≥5).

convertisseur18 variantsdissémination18 variantsdistinctifs18 variantsbienveillants18 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list