"contretemps" meaning in English

See contretemps in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /ˈkɒn.tɹə.tɑ̃ŋ/ [Received-Pronunciation], /kɑːn.tɹə.tɑ̃/ [US] Audio: en-us-contretemps.ogg Forms: contretemps [plural]
Etymology: Borrowed from French contretemps. Etymology templates: {{bor|en|fr|contretemps}} French contretemps Head templates: {{en-noun|contretemps}} contretemps (plural contretemps)
  1. An unforeseen, inopportune, or embarrassing event. Synonyms: hitch, mishap Translations (an unforeseen or embarrassing event): contretemps [masculine] (French), unglücklicher Zufall (German), Unannehmlichkeit (German), Zwischenfall [masculine] (German), Widrigkeit [feminine] (German), strek i regningen [masculine] (Norwegian Bokmål), uhell [neuter] (Norwegian Bokmål), strek i regninga [masculine, neuter] (Norwegian Nynorsk), uhell [neuter] (Norwegian Nynorsk), scysja [feminine] (Polish), spięcie [neuter] (Polish), contratiempo [masculine] (Spanish), motighet [common-gender] (Swedish), oförmodat hinder (Swedish), streck i räkningen (Swedish), missöde (Swedish)
    Sense id: en-contretemps-en-noun-u05JMvWg Disambiguation of 'an unforeseen or embarrassing event': 97 3
  2. (fencing) An ill-timed pass. Categories (topical): Fencing
    Sense id: en-contretemps-en-noun-ruE5xF7N Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 2 entries, Terms with French translations, Terms with German translations, Terms with Norwegian Bokmål translations, Terms with Norwegian Nynorsk translations, Terms with Polish translations, Terms with Spanish translations, Terms with Swedish translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 11 89 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 11 89 Disambiguation of Pages with 2 entries: 7 49 37 7 Disambiguation of Terms with French translations: 17 83 Disambiguation of Terms with German translations: 19 81 Disambiguation of Terms with Norwegian Bokmål translations: 17 83 Disambiguation of Terms with Norwegian Nynorsk translations: 7 93 Disambiguation of Terms with Polish translations: 24 76 Disambiguation of Terms with Spanish translations: 14 86 Disambiguation of Terms with Swedish translations: 13 87 Topics: fencing, government, hobbies, lifestyle, martial-arts, military, politics, sports, war
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  "etymology_text": "Borrowed from French contretemps.",
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
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    {
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        {
          "ref": "1842, [anonymous collaborator of Letitia Elizabeth Landon], chapter XXIV, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 2:",
          "text": "...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...",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1896, Bret Harte, The Indiscretion of Elsbeth:",
          "text": "\"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?\"",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1932, Edgar Rice Burroughs, chapter XII, in Pirates of Venus, published 1934:",
          "text": "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.",
          "type": "quote"
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        {
          "ref": "1960 June 13, “Emily Post Is Dead Here at 86; Writer was Arbiter of Etiquette”, in New York Times:",
          "text": "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.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1991, Rebecca Goldstein, The Dark Sister, Penguin Books, published 1993, page 37:",
          "text": "The small flap over the pronunciation of her name was but the first, and the least, of the contretemps of the succeeding session.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2004 June 13, Sunday Oregonian:",
          "text": "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.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2018 June 26, Taffy Brodesser-Akner, “Jonathan Franzen Is Fine With All of It”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:",
          "text": "It is worth considering what the misperceptions about him might be if the whole “contretemps with Oprah,” as he calls it, hadn’t happened.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2024 May 4, Guy Chazan, Leila Abboud, “Le Pen strains ties with German far-right”, in FT Weekend, page 2:",
          "text": "The spat was just the latest in a series of contretemps between the RN and the AfD.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
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        {
          "word": "hitch"
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          "word": "mishap"
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          "_dis1": "97 3",
          "code": "fr",
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          "tags": [
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          "word": "contretemps"
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        {
          "_dis1": "97 3",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "an unforeseen or embarrassing event",
          "word": "unglücklicher Zufall"
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          "_dis1": "97 3",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "an unforeseen or embarrassing event",
          "word": "Unannehmlichkeit"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "97 3",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "an unforeseen or embarrassing event",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "Zwischenfall"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "97 3",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "an unforeseen or embarrassing event",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "Widrigkeit"
        },
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          "_dis1": "97 3",
          "code": "nb",
          "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
          "sense": "an unforeseen or embarrassing event",
          "tags": [
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          "word": "strek i regningen"
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          "word": "uhell"
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          "code": "nn",
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          "sense": "an unforeseen or embarrassing event",
          "tags": [
            "masculine",
            "neuter"
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          "word": "strek i regninga"
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          "_dis1": "97 3",
          "code": "nn",
          "lang": "Norwegian Nynorsk",
          "sense": "an unforeseen or embarrassing event",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
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          "word": "uhell"
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          "_dis1": "97 3",
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "an unforeseen or embarrassing event",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "scysja"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "97 3",
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "an unforeseen or embarrassing event",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "spięcie"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "97 3",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "an unforeseen or embarrassing event",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "contratiempo"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "97 3",
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "an unforeseen or embarrassing event",
          "tags": [
            "common-gender"
          ],
          "word": "motighet"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "97 3",
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "an unforeseen or embarrassing event",
          "word": "oförmodat hinder"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "97 3",
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "an unforeseen or embarrassing event",
          "word": "streck i räkningen"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "97 3",
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "an unforeseen or embarrassing event",
          "word": "missöde"
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          "orig": "en:Fencing",
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            "Human activity",
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          "_dis": "24 76",
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          "name": "Terms with Polish translations",
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          "source": "w+disamb"
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        {
          "_dis": "14 86",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Spanish translations",
          "parents": [],
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        },
        {
          "_dis": "13 87",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Swedish translations",
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          "source": "w+disamb"
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        "An ill-timed pass."
      ],
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        ],
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          "ill-timed"
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          "pass"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(fencing) An ill-timed pass."
      ],
      "topics": [
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        "government",
        "hobbies",
        "lifestyle",
        "martial-arts",
        "military",
        "politics",
        "sports",
        "war"
      ]
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  "word": "contretemps"
}
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    "English nouns with irregular plurals",
    "English terms borrowed from French",
    "English terms derived from French",
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          "ref": "1842, [anonymous collaborator of Letitia Elizabeth Landon], chapter XXIV, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 2:",
          "text": "...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...",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1896, Bret Harte, The Indiscretion of Elsbeth:",
          "text": "\"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?\"",
          "type": "quote"
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        {
          "ref": "1932, Edgar Rice Burroughs, chapter XII, in Pirates of Venus, published 1934:",
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          "type": "quote"
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        {
          "ref": "1960 June 13, “Emily Post Is Dead Here at 86; Writer was Arbiter of Etiquette”, in New York Times:",
          "text": "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.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1991, Rebecca Goldstein, The Dark Sister, Penguin Books, published 1993, page 37:",
          "text": "The small flap over the pronunciation of her name was but the first, and the least, of the contretemps of the succeeding session.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2004 June 13, Sunday Oregonian:",
          "text": "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.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2018 June 26, Taffy Brodesser-Akner, “Jonathan Franzen Is Fine With All of It”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:",
          "text": "It is worth considering what the misperceptions about him might be if the whole “contretemps with Oprah,” as he calls it, hadn’t happened.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2024 May 4, Guy Chazan, Leila Abboud, “Le Pen strains ties with German far-right”, in FT Weekend, page 2:",
          "text": "The spat was just the latest in a series of contretemps between the RN and the AfD.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An unforeseen, inopportune, or embarrassing event."
      ],
      "links": [
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          "inopportune",
          "inopportune"
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          "embarrassing",
          "embarrassing"
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          "event"
        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "hitch"
        },
        {
          "word": "mishap"
        }
      ]
    },
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      "categories": [
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          "ill-timed"
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          "pass"
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      "raw_glosses": [
        "(fencing) An ill-timed pass."
      ],
      "topics": [
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        "government",
        "hobbies",
        "lifestyle",
        "martial-arts",
        "military",
        "politics",
        "sports",
        "war"
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      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "an unforeseen or embarrassing event",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "contretemps"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "an unforeseen or embarrassing event",
      "word": "unglücklicher Zufall"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "an unforeseen or embarrassing event",
      "word": "Unannehmlichkeit"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "an unforeseen or embarrassing event",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Zwischenfall"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "an unforeseen or embarrassing event",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "Widrigkeit"
    },
    {
      "code": "nb",
      "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
      "sense": "an unforeseen or embarrassing event",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "strek i regningen"
    },
    {
      "code": "nb",
      "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
      "sense": "an unforeseen or embarrassing event",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "uhell"
    },
    {
      "code": "nn",
      "lang": "Norwegian Nynorsk",
      "sense": "an unforeseen or embarrassing event",
      "tags": [
        "masculine",
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "strek i regninga"
    },
    {
      "code": "nn",
      "lang": "Norwegian Nynorsk",
      "sense": "an unforeseen or embarrassing event",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "uhell"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "an unforeseen or embarrassing event",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "scysja"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "an unforeseen or embarrassing event",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "spięcie"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "an unforeseen or embarrassing event",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "contratiempo"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "an unforeseen or embarrassing event",
      "tags": [
        "common-gender"
      ],
      "word": "motighet"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "an unforeseen or embarrassing event",
      "word": "oförmodat hinder"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "an unforeseen or embarrassing event",
      "word": "streck i räkningen"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "an unforeseen or embarrassing event",
      "word": "missöde"
    }
  ],
  "word": "contretemps"
}

Download raw JSONL data for contretemps meaning in English (6.3kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-09-22 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-09-20 using wiktextract (af5c55c and 66545a6). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.