How to pronounce “contrary”
Say “contrary” in 3 beats
contrary
/ˈkɑntɹɛɹi/
The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /kɒntɹəɹi/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.
- contkɑnstress
- rartɹɛ
- yɹi
- IPA (American)
- /ˈkɑntɹɛɹi/
- IPA (British)
- /kɒntɹəɹi/
- Also accepted
- /kənˈtɹɛɹi/
- Respelling
- KAHN-tre-ree
- Syllables
- 3 — CONT-rar-y
- Stress
- Stress the first syllable: CONT-rar-y. “cont” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
- Part of speech
- noun, adjective
- Difficulty
- Pro — the sounds are ordinary, the rhythm is where it slips
American and British are not the same here
/ˈkɑntɹɛɹi/
/kɒntɹəɹi/
No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.
What “contrary” means
- noun
a relation of direct opposition
“we thought Sue was older than Bill but just the reverse was true”
- noun
exact opposition
“public opinion to the contrary he is not guilty”
- noun
a logical relation such that two propositions are contraries if both cannot be true but both can be false
Say it in a sentence
“On the contrary, the evening turned out rather pleasant.”“contrary”, answered
How do you pronounce “contrary”?
“contrary” is pronounced /ˈkɑntɹɛɹi/ (KAHN-tre-ree) in American English and /kɒntɹəɹi/ in British English, and /kənˈtɹɛɹi/ is also accepted — 3 syllables, stressed on “cont”. Build it as CONT-rar-y, then run the first syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.
How many syllables does “contrary” have?
3: cont · rar · y. The beat lands on the first, “cont”.
Is “contrary” said differently in British English?
Yes. American English says /ˈkɑntɹɛɹi/ (KAHN-tre-ree); British English says /kɒntɹəɹi/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.
What does “contrary” mean?
As a noun: a relation of direct opposition For example: “we thought Sue was older than Bill but just the reverse was true” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.
Where is the stress in “contrary”?
Stress the first syllable: CONT-rar-y. “cont” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Now say “contrary” and see every sound
Record it once and sayit lines your audio up against the target sound by sound — what landed, what slipped, and what it sounded like instead.