adjective
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touching along the side or boundary; in contact
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physically adjacent; neighbouring
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preceding or following in time
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of contiguous
First recorded in 1605–15; from Latin contiguus “touching, bordering upon,“ equivalent to prefix con- “with, together” + tig- (variant stem of -tingere, combining form of tangere “to touch”) + -uus adjective suffix; see con-, tangent, contingent, contact; cf. -ous, continuous
Compare meaning
How does contiguous compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
Use the adjective contiguous when you want to describe one thing touching another thing, or next to it but not actually touching. Things that are contiguous are near or next to but not actually touching and yet they are also defined as "touching, sharing a border." You can use this adjective to describe people or things related to and nearby others. It comes from the Latin word contiguus, which means pretty much the same thing, "bordering upon." Because the word has two meanings that are very similar but not always the same it can be a bit confusing. This is an example of what's called "semantic ambiguity," when something can mean more than one thing or a word or phrase is not precise.
Vocabulary lists containing contiguous
The Crucible
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Common Senses: Tact, Tang ("Touch")
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The United States
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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.
Kazarian marks at least the second person who died this year while trying to summit the highest peak in the contiguous U.S. at 14,505 feet.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026
Major Canadian producers are locking up contiguous, long-life oil assets in the region as energy falls under the global spotlight.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
"I was surprised at our findings because the word 'brain' implies a contiguous organ that likely has a singular origin," Jokhai said.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 21, 2026
The Wolf Conservation Center estimates there are around 7,600 gray wolves in the contiguous United States.
From Barron's ● Sep. 4, 2026
Quite a few of those families occupy large contiguous areas—in the case of Indo-European, the area encompassing most of Europe east through much of western Asia to India.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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.
