contratempo
Portuguese, noun/ˌkõ.tɾaˈtẽ.pu/
contratempo is a Portuguese masculine noun meaning “contretemps (accident or unforeseen circumstance that changes someone's plans)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário) defines it as “situação ou acontecimento cuja ocorrência é inesperada”.
What does contratempo mean in English?
noun
- 1
masculinecontretemps (accident or unforeseen circumstance that changes someone's plans)
- 2
masculinesyncopation (musical pulse supported by weak beats)
Source: English Wiktionary, Portuguese section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How Portuguese dictionaries define it
noun: 1. situação ou acontecimento cuja ocorrência é inesperada 2. aquilo que impede a realização normal de alguma coisa 3. o que atrapalha 4. obstáculo ou estorvo
The definition in the Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário), in Portuguese.
Source: Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of contratempo
- contratempos plural
Source: English Wiktionary and Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce contratempo?
- Brazil /ˌkõ.tɾaˈtẽ.pu/
- Portugal /ˌkõ.tɾɐˈtẽ.pu/
Sources: English Wiktionary, Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to contratempo
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is contratempo in Portuguese?
contratempo appears about once in every 2 million words in written Portuguese.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).