from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
noun An unforeseen event that disrupts the normal course of things; an inopportune occurrence.
noun An argument or dispute.
from The Century Dictionary.
noun An unexpected and untoward event; an embarrassing conjuncture; a “hitch.”
noun In music, same as syncopation.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
noun An unexpected and untoward accident; something inopportune or embarrassing; a hitch.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
noun An unforeseen, inopportune, or embarrassingevent; a hitch
noun fencing An ill-timedpass.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
noun an awkward clash
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
[French : contre-, against (from Latin contrā-; see contra–) + temps, time (from Latin tempus).]
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
French
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Examples
The practical political effect of the Clinton contretemps is simple: Meek, already struggling badly for any traction in the race (polling suggests that his support runs in the high teens) looks hapless and hopeless at a time when voters want the exact opposite.
Associated Press News analyst Juan Williams All these sentiments strike me as eminently reasonable, but my own view of the contretemps is slightly different.
While the Clinton contretemps is absolutely fascinating -- particularly to veteran Clinton watchers like us -- it ultimately will have little effect on the race.
But by now it's clear to everyone that there was no great PR strategy behind taking the artist / label contretemps public, and that the album's fortunes have been affected in the collateral damage. about what she calls the "supposed feud," insisting that she and her team remain a "tightly knit family" and saying, "A lot has been made in the press about my relationship with Clive.
Jack Bradley himself has been unavailable for comment, but bank spokesperson Wayne Taylor does concede that the contretemps is a no-win situation for everyone.
Jack Bradley himself has been unavailable for comment, but bank spokesperson Wayne Taylor does concede that the contretemps is a no-win situation for everyone.
Jack Bradley himself has been unavailable for comment, but bank spokesperson Wayne Taylor does concede that the contretemps is a no-win situation for everyone.
Jack Bradley himself has been unavailable for comment, but bank spokesperson Wayne Taylor does concede that the contretemps is a no-win situation for everyone.
palooka commented on the word contretemps
"An unforeseen event that disrupts the normal course of things; an inopportune occurrence." AHD
May 7, 2008
bilby commented on the word contretemps
As today's Word of the Day on dictionary.com, suggested pronunciation is \KAHN-truh-tahn\.
I'd rather eat rocks.
March 31, 2009
smgrantham commented on the word contretemps
An inopportune or embarrassing situation or event; a hitch.
April 1, 2009