contour
Americannoun
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the outline of a figure or body; the edge or line that defines or bounds a shape or object.
- Synonyms:
- boundary, form, configuration
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Phonetics. a distinctive pattern of changes in pitch, stress, or tone extending across all or part of an utterance, especially across a sentence, and contributing to meaning.
verb (used with object)
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to mark with contour lines.
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to make or form the contour or outline of.
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to build (a road, railroad track, etc.) in conformity with the contour of the land.
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to mold or shape so as to fit a certain configuration.
cars with seats that are contoured for comfort.
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to apply foundation and bronzer along the natural bone structure of (the face) to create definition.
ways to contour your nose.
adjective
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molded or shaped to fit a particular contour or form.
contour seats.
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Agriculture. of or used in a system of plowing, cultivating, sowing, etc., along the contour lines of the land in order to trap water runoff and prevent erosion.
noun
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the outline of a mass of land, figure, or body; a defining line
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See contour line
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( as modifier )
a contour map
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(often plural) the shape or surface, esp of a curving form
the contours of her body were full and round
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(modifier) shaped to fit the form of something
a contour chair
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a rising and falling variation pattern, as in music and intonation
verb
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to shape so as to form the contour of something
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to mark contour lines on
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to construct (a road, railway, etc) to follow the outline of the land
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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contoursimple
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contourssimple
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have contouredperfect
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has contouredperfect
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am contouringprogressive
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are contouringprogressive
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is contouringprogressive
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have been contouringperfect progressive
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has been contouringperfect progressive
Past
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contouredsimple
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had contouredperfect
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was contouringprogressive
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were contouringprogressive
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had been contouringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of contour
First recorded in 1655–65; from French, equivalent to con- + tour “a turn,” modeled on Italian contorno, derivative of contornare “to outline”; see origin at con-, tour, turn
Explanation
Contour is the outline or shape of something. A shoe that fits well along the contours or shape of your foot is a good fit. Contour comes from the Italian contorno meaning "to draw a line," which is precisely what you are doing when you trace the contour of something. A road that contours a mountain follows along its edge and a mattress that contours to your body, adjusts to your shape. You might buy the kind of shoes that are designed to contour or mold to the shape of your feet over time, in which case you'll have to break them in.
Vocabulary lists containing contour
Essential Academic Vocabulary for High School Students, List 3
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ACT Vocabulary List
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Butterfly Yellow
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Yes, the contour palette is back, though Patrick says “no-makeup makeup” is still very much here.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 8, 2025
Sometimes they are used to contour or shape the nose or lips.
From BBC ● Dec. 3, 2025
And even that contour was ever-changing, different depending on what form Mansfield took on to please the world.
From Salon ● Jun. 27, 2025
Yeah, the Chinese government is definitely mining my data, but so is Mark Zuckerberg, and Zuckerberg’s Facebook never gave me the perfect step-by-step tutorial of how to contour my face for a truly flawless finish.
From Slate ● Jan. 16, 2025
Please see The Shape of a Melodyl0 for children's activities covering melodic contour.
From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones
For the new research, the team built a collection of silly sprinklers with different contours.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 17, 2026
Spence is already sketching out the contours of a bank-wide contest, likely in the fall, where different regions will nominate their champions to compete in a final round of taste-testing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
Yet its broad contours remained unclear more than a day after the deal was announced, as each side offered conflicting public messaging about what had been agreed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 15, 2026
My hope is that after July 4, once we’ve seen how this Washington makeover ends, we can look at some bigger stories that have the same contours.
From Slate ● Jun. 4, 2026
She could feel the contours of her body—this woman’s body—and she wore a gown of some kind of heavy fabric.
From "Huntress" by Malinda Lo
Lawyers for the guitar builders say the guitar was actually designed by a few people, who landed on the contoured shape for comfortability.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 27, 2026
A towering performance that is also impressively contoured, Lithgow’s portrayal of dyspeptic British author Roald Dahl infuses Mark Rosenblatt’s drama with chilling mystery.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 5, 2026
This hero was contoured and svelte, wealthy and suave, a Wall Street whiz and owner of land, a man who wore Brioni suits and a Cartier family heirloom watch.
From Slate ● Nov. 28, 2023
Immaculately groomed and entirely self-possessed, Siobhan bestrides the world of public relations like an expertly contoured colossus.
From New York Times ● Sep. 21, 2023
She posts a lot of selfies with dramatically contoured cheekbones and intricate eyeliner patterns, and now I can’t stop looking through them.
From "What If It's Us" by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera
These are expected to include non-surgical BBLs, face lifts and filler-based body contouring treatments, which alter the shape of areas such as the stomach, thighs or buttocks.
From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2026
Selfies were becoming more prevalent as social media grew, and standards of beauty hewed close to celebrity Kim Kardashian’s looks, especially in regards to eye makeup and products used for face contouring.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 7, 2026
Da’Vine Joy Randolph has been another red-carpet favorite with body contouring dresses.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 10, 2024
The procedure became one of the most popular options in the body contouring industry.
From New York Times ● Apr. 16, 2023
Now she brought out fake eyelashes, green shadow, black liner, base, contouring brushes, eyebrow pencil, coral gloss.
From "Genuine Fraud" by E. Lockhart
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
