Dictionary.com
definitions

contra

1
[kon-truh]
|
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 CONTENT

“Mystery missile” web sensation may have simply been a “contrail.” What does that mean?
A mysterious event in the sky outside of Los Angeles last week grabbed the attention of the media and conspiracy theorists. Was it a secret missile test? Even the Pentagon seemed flummoxed. This week, the military weighed in, dismissing it as the contrail of an ordinary jet. Not to be confused with a coelacanth, the Contras, or any conspiracy-themed topic, a contrail is the benign conjoining of “condensation” and …
READ MORE
A Long List of Affixes: Suffixes, Prefixes, and Combining Forms
Suffixes -able, -ible, -ile:  (form adjs) able to, fit to, worthy, capable; apt to; subject to being ~-ed -ac:  one affect with -ac, -al, -ane, -ar, -ary, -ch, -ese, -ic, -ical, -id, -ile, -ine, -ish, -ory:  like, of, pertaining to; characterized by -aceae:  families of plants -aceous, -ous:  resemblance to a substance; full of -acy, -age, -ance, -ancy, -asm, -dom, -ence, -ency, -hood, -ism, -ity, -ment, -mony, -ness, -ry, -ship, …
READ MORE

RELATED WORDS

antithesis, contrary, reversal, inverse, paradox, reverse, obverse, converse, contradiction, counterpart, foil, opposition, antipode, antonym, contrast, about-face, back, underside, regression, bottom

Origin of contra

1
1350–1400; Middle English < Latin contrā

contra

2
[kon-truh; Spanish kawn-trah]

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

2
< American Spanish, shortening of contrarrevolucionario counterrevolutionary

contra-

1

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

Origin of contra-

1
< Late Latin, Latin, prefixal use of adverb and preposition contrā

contra-

2

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

Origin of contra-

2
< 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

Contemporary Examples of contra

Historical Examples of contra

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

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-.

Contra

n.

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

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."

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Medicine definitions for contra

contra-

pref.

Against; opposite; contrasting:contraindication.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.