counterpoint

American  

[koun-ter-point] / ˈkaʊn tərˌpɔɪnt /

noun

1. Music. the art of combining melodies.

2. Music. the texture resulting from the combining of individual melodic lines.

3. a melody composed to be combined with another melody.

4. Also called counterpoint rhythm.  Prosody. syncopation.

5. any element that is juxtaposed and contrasted with another.

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verb (used with object)

• counterpoints,
  present (3rd person singular)
• counterpointed,
  past participle,  past
• counterpointing
  present participle

1. to emphasize or clarify by contrast or juxtaposition.

counterpoint British  

/ ˈkaʊntəˌpɔɪnt /

noun

1. the technique involving the simultaneous sounding of two or more parts or melodies

2. a melody or part combined with another melody or part See also descant

3. the musical texture resulting from the simultaneous sounding of two or more melodies or parts

4. the application of the rules of counterpoint as an academic exercise

5. a contrasting or interacting element, theme, or item; foil

6. prosody the use of a stress or stresses at variance with the regular metrical stress

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verb

1. (tr) to set in contrast

counterpoint Cultural  

1. The use of two or more melodies at the same time in a piece of music; it was an important part of baroque music. Certain composers, such as Johann Sebastian Bach, have been especially skillful at counterpoint.

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

• counterpointing
  present
• counterpointed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• counterpoint
  simple
• counterpoints
  simple
• have counterpointed
  perfect
• has counterpointed
  perfect
• am counterpointing
  progressive
• are counterpointing
  progressive
• is counterpointing
  progressive
• have been counterpointing
  perfect progressive
• has been counterpointing
  perfect progressive

Past

• counterpointed
  simple
• had counterpointed
  perfect
• was counterpointing
  progressive
• were counterpointing
  progressive
• had been counterpointing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will counterpoint
  simple
• will have counterpointed
  perfect
• will be counterpointing
  progressive
• will have been counterpointing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of counterpoint

1400–50; late Middle English < Middle French contrepoint, translation of Medieval Latin ( cantus ) contrāpūnctus literally, (song) pointed or pricked against, referring to notes of an accompaniment written over or under the notes of a plainsong. See counter-, point

Explanation

A counterpoint is something that contrasts, and to counterpoint is to provide a contrast. In music, counterpoint is when two separate melodies are played or sung at the same time. When a composer writes a piece of music using voices that follow different rhythms or pitches but ultimately come together harmonically, she uses counterpoint. And if you're on the school debate time, you might offer a counterpoint to an opponent's argument. You can also use this word as a verb to mean "to highlight difference:" "My tidy bookshelves counterpoint the mess of papers and books on my desk."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

counterpoint counterpoints counterpointed counterpointing

Another unappreciated aspect of the SpaceX IPO is that over 10,000 employees bought it, said Baker, which, he noted, is a counterpoint to exhaustive analysis of the share-lockup schedule.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 16, 2026

For mains, the grilled rainbow trout with Carolina Gold rice and espelette-citrus beurre blanc was beautifully balanced, while the butternut squash agnolotti with Madeira foam and ricotta offered a rich, comforting counterpoint.

From Salon ● Jun. 11, 2026

Long seen as a philosophical counterpoint to “2001,” the film turns isolation inward, where the danger isn’t running out of resources but being unable to escape yourself.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 19, 2026

The IEA was formed after the Arab oil embargoes shook the world economy, as an oil consumers’ counterpoint to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 9, 2026

The drumming of his hooves was like a counterpoint to the slow song of the wind, endlessly burning past my ears.

From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss

Of course, there are counterpoints to the notion that chips can have lasting value.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026

In revisiting his cherished alien subgenre for the fourth time with “Disclosure Day,” Spielberg returns to where his career started, scraping away the classic marks of extraterrestrial intrigue and replacing them with human counterpoints.

From Salon ● Jun. 13, 2026

There are some counterpoints, but we should not get into them because, frankly, this is one of the most annoying legal arguments I have covered in my entire life.

From Slate ● Mar. 4, 2024

Caius Williams on acoustic bass grounds, nudges and counterpoints feeo’s voice; electronics and backup vocals materialize and vanish.

From New York Times ● May 5, 2023

Or is there a kind of cosmic fugue, with themes and counterpoints, dissonances and harmonies, a billion different voices playing the life music of the Galaxy?

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

McGregor, whose movement style is often characterised by hyperkinetic complexity, extreme limb extensions counterpointed against buckling torsos, said that when he read the poem, he was drawn to its vivid physical imagery and beauty.

From New York Times ● Oct. 13, 2021

“Tenet” is Nolan’s densely science-fictional take on the James Bond thriller, but essentially it’s about entropy and reverse entropy and a series of jaw-dropping action sequences that take place in that counterpointed slipstream of time.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 25, 2021

This doesn’t always work in a trio setting, where there’s little melody to be counterpointed, but it’s quite powerful in Halvorson’s new octet.

From Washington Post ● Jun. 8, 2017

Penny constantly drew my attention to the way elements of a painting match or "rhyme" each other: a mandrill and stone ball, two counterpointed figures.

From The Guardian ● Jun. 1, 2012

And those in the common rhythm are some counterpointed, some not.

From Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins Now First Published by Robert Seymour Bridges

Sontag, of course counterpointing, noted that “its most obvious trait is assertiveness of one kind or another.”

From Washington Post ● May 11, 2020

The television was on, and Tupac’s “Hail Mary” was playing on his phone, a tolling bell eerily counterpointing the opening rap.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2019

The songs are more effective in a gentle, reflective mode — with lovely counterpointing of wistful, individual voices — than when they try to stir or rouse.

From New York Times ● Oct. 22, 2014

Weirdly, it adds something here, counterpointing all the anger and defiance in the lyrics with an affecting frailty.

From The Guardian ● May 24, 2012

As a draughtsman Leech has been admirably placed by Mr. du Maurier, who calls him a perfect ballad-writer as compared with the more scientific counterpointing of Charles Keene.

From The History of "Punch" by M. H. (Marion Harry) Spielmann