Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of contracted
Explanation
Something contracted has shrunk or become smaller. Your pupils tend to be contracted in bright sunlight. Contracted is an adjective that usually describes physical things. If your eyebrows look contracted, they are probably furrowed and scrunched up. If your tummy is contracted, it is probably drawn in and flat. Economies and budgets can also be contracted, if they have undergone the painful process of shrinking. If your belly is contracted, buy a bikini. If your budget is contracted, you are better off not buying anything.
Vocabulary lists containing contracted
"Watership Down" by Richard Adams, Chapter 43-Epilogue
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Stories of Ourselves
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Hunting by Stars
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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.
When its estimate stood at 12.1%, the eurozone economy was recorded as having contracted by 0.2%.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
More than 80 percent of programs contained information that was either seriously misleading or straight-up wrong, including that HIV can be contracted by sweat and tears and that condoms are ineffective.
From Slate ● Jul. 28, 2026
He worked for a logistics company contracted by Coupang.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
There have been at least two infants who have contracted measles so far this year in California — both of whom traveled internationally before falling ill.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
Stoically, Le Gentil packed up his instruments and set off for the nearest port, but en route he contracted dysentery and was laid up for nearly a year.
From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson
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.
