Standard Lemma guide

counterforce

adj · noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • CMU ARPABET: K AW1 N T ER0 F AO2 R S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Targeting an opponent's military assets, such as missile silos, rather than other valuable assets such as cities and civilian populations.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Topics: government, military, politics, war

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: countervalue

2

noun

Meaning 2

A force that opposes another force.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱe? Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm Proto-Italic *kom Proto-Italic *kom- Proto-Indo-European *-teros Proto-Italic *-teros Proto-Italic *komterosder. Proto-Italic *komterād Latin contrāder. Old French contre- Anglo-Norman countre-bor. Middle English counter- English counter- English force English counterforce From counter- + force.

Across languages

Translations

3 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Finnish: vastavoima — force that opposes another force
  • Irish: frithfhórsa — force that opposes another force
  • Swedish: motvikt motkraft — force that opposes another force