contretemps
/ˈkɑːn.tɹə.tɑ̃/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.75 in modern English
17
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
3
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
An unforeseen, inopportune, or embarrassing event.
Example Sentences
- "...and said "she had been the most efficient friend of the charity;" and whether a whisper that had gone forth respecting her contretemps with the strange man was spread, or it had fortunately been so well managed by the Count as to have escaped observation..."
- ""I see that you are a born American citizen--and an earlier knowledge of that fact would have prevented this little contretemps. You are aware, Mr. Hoffman, that your name is German?""
- "What a strange contretemps! Its suddenness left me temporarily speechless; the embarrassment of Duare was only too obvious. Yet it was that unusual paradox, a happy contretemps--for me at least."
- "Mrs. Post was the center of a notable contretemps when she spilled a spoonful of berries at a dinner of the Gourmet Society here in 1938."
- "The small flap over the pronunciation of her name was but the first, and the least, of the contretemps of the succeeding session."
- "It won't rank with the doping scandals in track and field and baseball's steroid controversy but the Rose Cup race had its own little contretemps last year."
Etymology
Borrowed from French contretemps.
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈkɑːn.tɹə.tɑ̃/
- British English: /ˈkɒn.tɹə.tɑ̃ŋ/