Related Words
See happiness.
Other Word Forms
- overcontentment noun
- precontentment noun
Etymology
Origin of contentment
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English contentement, from Middle French; content 2 ( def. ), -ment ( def. )
Compare meaning
How does contentment compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
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.
Aleys acknowledges the contentment of the Beguines, understanding that their communal labors knit their “hopes, their labor, even their disagreements” as “strands in a single weave.”
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 4, 2026
There is a sense of being "overwhelmed with the emotion" in contrast to other forms of happiness, such as comfort or contentment.
From BBC • Jan. 18, 2026
How do you define happiness, and is that the same as contentment?
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 24, 2025
That sense of financial contentment, however, can be extremely hard to come by today.
From MarketWatch • Nov. 21, 2025
I eye the med cart, breathing a sigh of contentment over how meticulously organized it is.
From "Five Feet Apart" by Rachael Lippincott
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.
