Which to use
“contraire” is a noun and “contraires” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #868
- “contraire” frequency rank
- #11,377
- “contraires” frequency rank
- 12245
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | contraire | contraires |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Concept inverse, logiquement opposé. | Pluriel de contraire. |
Same sound, different letters: contraire vs contraires
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 9 letters. contraire runs 9 letters (CVCCCVVCV) against contraires's 10 (CVCCCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Same sound, different spelling - contraire / contraires
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: contraire and contraires carry the same recorded pronunciation, \kɔ̃.tʁɛʁ\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, the other anadjective, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “contraire” sits inside “contraires”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12245, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
contraire is recorded at frequency rank #868, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɔ̃.tʁɛʁ\. contraires is at rank #11,377, tagged as anadj, pronounced \kɔ̃.tʁɛʁ\.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 12245, this pair ranks #406,039 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of contraire vs contraires
Shared letters: aceinort. Private to "contraire": -. Private to "contraires": s.
"contraire" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVVCV · "contraires" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- contraire ← ccontraire · cnotraire · conntraire · conrtaire · contarire · contraier · contrairre · contriare
- contraires ← ccontraires · cnotraires · conntraires · conrtaires · contarires · contraiers · contrairess · contrairres
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "contraire" and "contraires" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "contraire" or "contraires"?
What to do next
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "contraire" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "contraires" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #406,039 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "contraire" and "contraires" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "contraires vs contrastés". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #406,039 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.