ENGLISH DICTIONARY

Contra

Definition, Meaning & Examples

Pronunciation /ˈkɒntɹə/ · Part of speech preposition

Quick meaning: Contra is a preposition meaning Against; contrary or opposed to; in opposition or contrast to.

Meaning

Against; contrary or opposed to; in opposition or contrast to.

More Meanings

  1. Contrary to something.
  2. (business) A deal to swap goods or services.
  3. (politics, derogatory) A conservative; originally tied to Nicaraguan counter-revolutionaries.
  4. (accounting, often attributive) An entry (or account) that cancels another entry (or account).
  5. (dance) A contra dance.
  6. (music, informal) Any of the musical instruments in the contrabass range, e.g. contrabassoon, contrabass clarinet or, especially, double bass.
  7. (obsolete, US, New England, dance) A country dance.

Example Sentences

to contra a position (an entry)
a contra position; a contra entry
The sum for each contra account is shown in the last column.
[…] it is useless to pray “Thy kingdom come” and vote contra or stay away from the polls; […]

Word Forms

Synonyms for contra

Depending on context, synonyms include against, anti, counterentry.

Antonyms for contra

Common opposites include pro.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include contrary, opposed, counter, clearing, consideration, balancer.

Related Dictionary Tools

Sources & Attribution

FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0

Dictionary data is provided by FreeDictionaryAPI.com and sourced from Wiktionary under its stated license.