contra

[ kon-truh ]

/ ˈkɒn trə /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR contra ON THESAURUS.COM

preposition

against; in opposition or contrast to: Consider the problems of the teenager contra those of the adult.

adverb

contrariwise; on or to the contrary.

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

contour map, contour ploughing, contour sheet, contoured, contr., contra, contra dance, contra-, contra-aperture, contra-guide rudder, contraband

Origin of contra

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin contrā

Definition for contra (2 of 4)

contra

[ kon-truh; Spanish kawn-trah ]

/ ˈkɒn trə; Spanish ˈkɔn trɑ /

noun, plural con·tras [kon-truh z; Spanish kawn-trahs] /ˈkɒn trəz; Spanish ˈkɔn trɑs/.

(often initial capital letter) a member of a counterrevolutionary guerrilla group in Nicaragua.

Origin of contra

< American Spanish, shortening of contrarrevolucionario counterrevolutionary

Definition for contra (3 of 4)

contra-

a prefix meaning “against,” “opposite,” “opposing”: contradistinction, contraindicate.

Origin of contra-

< Late Latin, Latin, prefixal use of adverb and preposition contrā

Definition for contra (4 of 4)

contra-

a prefix meaning “pitched lower than” the voice or instrument specified by the following element: contralto, contrabassoon.

Origin of contra-

< Italian < Latin; see contra-¹, counterpoint

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for contra

But contra William Faulkner, there are signs that the past is finally becoming past.
It's Not Racist to Hate Government|Nick Gillespie|May 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The country had just emerged from a civil war and was in the midst of the rising Contra conflict of the early 1980s.
Franck de las Mercedes Lost Everything in a Fire…Except His Faberge Egg|Justin Jones|April 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
So now we're apparently back to saying, contra the Obama administration, that Iran's program is still progressing.
Head of D.C. Pro-Israel Think Tank Misrepresents Geneva Deal|Ali Gharib|November 27, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Not by Israeli forces, the UN now reports, contra previous stories from the WaPo and the BBC last November.
Hamas, Not the IDF, Killed This Man's Child|Justin Green|March 11, 2013|DAILY BEAST

Contra Ricardo, the share going to land is declining steadily and capital is capturing the gains.
Don't Have Enough to Worry About? Here's One More Thing: Low Growth May be Here to Stay.|Megan McArdle|March 4, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Origen had set the note a century before Constantine (Contra Celsum, viii, 68-72).
The Evolution of States|J. M. Robertson
Constant sickness, either arising from mucous inflammation or ulcer of the stomach, contra—indicate the use of the thermal water.
Buxton and its Medicinal Waters|Robert Ottiwell Gifford-Bennet
The instance of Nietzsche contra Wagner, already cited, is particularly transparent.
Collected Papers on Analytical Psychology|C. G. Jung
We were over in Contra Costa County then, on a little ranch of my father's.
An American Idyll|Cornelia Stratton Parker
These slope gradually down, and between them and the shore there is a broad and fertile plain, which is called the Contra Costa.
What I Saw in California|Edwin Bryant

British Dictionary definitions for contra

contra-

prefix

against; contrary; opposing; contrastingcontraceptive; contradistinction

(in music) pitched belowcontrabass

Word Origin for contra-

from Latin, from contrā against

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for contra (1 of 3)

contra

mid-14c., from Latin contra (prep. and adv.) "against," originally "in comparison with," ablative singular feminine of *com-teros, from Old Latin com "with, together" (see com-) + -tr, zero degree of the comparative suffix -ter-.

Word Origin and History for contra (1 of 3)

Contra

1981, "anti-Sandinista Nicaraguan," short for Spanish contrarrevolucionario "counter-revolutionary."

Word Origin and History for contra (2 of 3)

contra-

word-forming element meaning "against, in opposition," from Latin adverb and preposition contra (see contra). The Latin word was used as a prefix in Late Latin. In French, it became contre- and passed into English as counter-. The Old English equivalent was wiðer (surviving in withers and widdershins), from wið "with, against."

Medicine definitions for contra

contra-

pref.

Against; opposite; contrasting:contraindication.