Counteract

How to spell counteract

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce counteract

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does counteract mean?

1. verbTo act in opposition to something in order to reduce or cancel its effect.

Counteract in a sentence

• A balanced diet can counteract the effects of a stressful week.

• The central bank raised rates to counteract rising inflation.

Where does counteract come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word is built from two pieces that both trace back to Latin. The prefix counter- comes from the Latin contra, meaning 'against' or 'opposite', which reached English through Old French as countre. The second half, act, descends from the Latin agere, meaning 'to do, drive, or set in motion', the same root that gives us 'agent', 'action', and 'agile'. Joined together in English in the seventeenth century, counteract literally means 'to act against', that is, to work in opposition to something so as to cancel or reduce its effect. The spelling trap lives in the prefix: there is a silent middle that writers sometimes shorten, but counter- always keeps its full 'coun-ter' shape, exactly as in 'counter', 'encounter', and 'counterfeit'.

How the word is built

• counter- (against, from Latin contra)
• act (from Latin agere: to do, drive)