Which to use
“contra” is a preposition and “contrair” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #160
- “contra” frequency rank
- #22,925
- “contrair” frequency rank
- 23085
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | contra | contrair |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | em oposição a | estreitar |
Where the eye mixes contra and contrair
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: contra vs contrair
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: contra is /ˈkõ.tɾɐ/ while contrair is /kõ.tɾɐ.ˈiɾ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “contra” sits inside “contrair”, and the parts of speech differ too (preposition vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23085, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
contra is recorded at frequency rank #160, classified as aprep, pronounced /ˈkõ.tɾɐ/. contrair is at rank #22,925, tagged as averb, pronounced /kõ.tɾɐ.ˈiɾ/.
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 23085, this pair ranks #46,816 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of contra vs contrair
Shared letters: acnort. Private to "contra": -. Private to "contrair": i.
"contra" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV · "contrair" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "contra" and "contrair" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "contra" or "contrair"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "contra" and "contrair" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "contra" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "contrair" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #46,816 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "contra" and "contrair" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "contrair vs contrapor". 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 #46,816 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.