contenção
/kõ.tẽ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/
The verdict
“contenção” is a moderately-common Portuguese word, ranked #11,239 in Portuguese word frequency and used as a noun.
- #11,239
- frequency rank, Portuguese
- 9
- letters
- 12
- tracked misspellings
- 8
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - ato ou efeito de conter, de controlar ou de reprimir
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | contenção |
| Language | Portuguese |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /kõ.tẽ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #11,239 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 8 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “contenção” sits in Portuguese frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The Portuguese entry for contenção is 9 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /kõ.tẽ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/. Corpus data places it at rank #11,239 in overall Portuguese word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for contenção, with forms such as "ccontenção", "cnotenção", and "conetnção". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 8 confusable-pair relationships, "contento", "contenda", "convenção", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct Portuguese form is contenção, spelled C-O-N-T-E-N-Ç-Ã-O.
Definition
- 1ato ou efeito de conter, de controlar ou de reprimir
- 2controle; estado daquilo que não se movimenta: muro de contenção
- 3briga; uso de violência física
- 4debate ou disputa; falta de entendimento verbal; discordância de ideias
- 5ação ou efeito de contender, de brigar ou de discutir
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ccontenção,cnotenção,conetnção,conntenção,contennção,contenãço,contençoã,conteçnão,contneção,conttenção,cotnenção,ocntenção
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of contenção - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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 Portuguese corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "contenção"?
What does "contenção" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "contenção"?
How do you pronounce "contenção"?
What language does "contenção" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “contenção”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct Portuguese spelling is C-O-N-T-E-N-Ç-Ã-O - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /kõ.tẽ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “contento” - see the side-by-side comparison. contenção vs contento
- Browse more Portuguese words and confusable pairs in the same reference. Portuguese words
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.