What does contra mean?
Contra functions in English both as a noun and as a borrowed Latin preposition or adverb. As a noun, it names a member of the counter-revolutionary guerrilla forces that fought against Nicaragua's Sandinista government during the 1980s, a usage fixed in public memory by the Iran-contra affair. In this sense it carries distinct historical and political weight rather than everyday connotation. More generally, 'contra' derives directly from Latin and means 'against' or 'in opposition to'. This older, formal use survives mainly in specialized registers: legal argument, where positions may be stated pro et contra (for and against), and accounting, where a 'contra account' offsets or reduces the balance of a related account. Because the word signals opposition so directly, it pairs naturally with its counterpart 'pro', which expresses support. For general readers, contra is worth knowing chiefly for its role in political history and for its precise, formal flavour in professional writing.
A member of the guerrilla forces that opposed the Sandinista government in Nicaragua during the 1980s.
"Many contras were based in Honduras along the Nicaraguan border."
Almost always used with reference to the Nicaraguan civil war of the 1980s.
Against; in opposition to — used in formal, legal, or scholarly contexts, often paired with 'pro' as in 'pro et contra'.
"The committee listed all arguments pro et contra before making its recommendation."
Formal register; ordinary speech would simply use 'against'.
The plural is the normal form when referring collectively to the Nicaraguan fighters.
"The United States provided funding to the contras throughout the decade."
The word for 'against' gave its name to an entire army — and to one of the biggest political scandals in American history.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of contra
The word comes straight from Latin 'contra', meaning 'against' or 'opposite', which itself derives from the Proto-Indo-European comparative element *-ter- combined with *kom-, giving forms like 'comparare'. It entered Middle English in the medieval period through learned and legal usage, retaining its Latin sense of opposition. It shares this root with a family of English borrowings built on Latin 'contra-', including 'contradict', 'contrast', 'controversy', and 'contraband'. The modern noun sense arose much later, in the late 1970s and 1980s, when Spanish-speaking opponents of Nicaragua's Sandinista government were called 'contras', literally 'counter-revolutionaries'.
How contra is actually used
The noun sense refers specifically to the Nicaraguan conflict of the 1980s and carries strong political-historical connotations. The prepositional use ('contra' = against) is formal and largely confined to law, accounting (as in 'contra account'), and academic writing; in everyday English, 'against' or 'opposing' would be more natural.
Easily confused with contra
'Pro' means in favour of something, whereas 'contra' means against it — the two are the standard opposing terms in argumentation.
'Contro' is an Italian word meaning against; English uses 'contra' instead, so 'contro' is not a standard English term.