adj · 6 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
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UK, US:/kənˈtɪɡ.ju.əs/
US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
Australian:/kənˈtɪɡ.jʉ.əs/
Australia:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with -ɪɡjuəs
CMU ARPABET:K AH0 N T IH1 G Y UW0 AH0 S
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
adj
Meaning 1
Connected; touching; abutting.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: figuratively, not-comparable, sometimes
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
adj
Meaning 2
Adjacent; neighboring.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: not-comparable
Examples
1730–1774, Oliver Goldsmith, Introductory to Switzerland Though poor the peasant’s hut, his feasts though small, He sees his little lot the lot of all; Sees no contiguous palace rear its head To shame the meanness of his humble shed;
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
adj
Meaning 3
Connecting without a break.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: not-comparable
Examples
the forty-eight contiguous states
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
adjective satellite
Meaning 4
very close or connected in space or time
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
contiguous events
immediate contact
the immediate vicinity
the immediate past
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: immediate
Antonyms: none provided
5
adjective satellite
Meaning 5
having a common boundary or edge; abutting; touching
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
Rhode Island has two bordering states; Massachusetts and Conncecticut
the side of Germany conterminous with France
Utah and the contiguous state of Idaho
neighboring cities
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: adjacent, conterminous, neighboring(a)
Antonyms: none provided
6
adjective satellite
Meaning 6
connecting without a break; within a common boundary
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
the 48 conterminous states
the contiguous 48 states
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: conterminous
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
From Latin contiguus (“touching”) + -ous, from contingere (“to touch”); see contingent, contact, contagion.
Across languages
Translations
122 source translations are retained for this English entry.