contingency

American  

[kuhn-tin-juhn-see] / kənˈtɪn dʒən si /

noun

plural

contingencies

1. dependence on chance or on the fulfillment of a condition; uncertainty; fortuitousness.

   Nothing was left to contingency.

2. a contingent event; a chance, accident, or possibility conditional on something uncertain.

   He was prepared for every contingency.

   Synonyms:

   predicament, likelihood, emergency

3. something incidental to a thing.

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contingency British  

/ kənˈtɪndʒənsɪ /

noun

1. 1. a possible but not very likely future event or condition; eventuality

   2. ( as modifier )

      a contingency plan

2. something dependent on a possible future event

3. a fact, event, etc, incidental to or dependent on something else

4. 1. modification of the meaning of a main clause by use of a bound clause introduced by a binder such as if, when, though, or since Compare adding

   2. ( as modifier )

      a contingency clause

5. logic

   1. the state of being contingent

   2. a contingent statement

6. dependence on chance; uncertainty

7. statistics

   1. the degree of association between theoretical and observed common frequencies of two graded or classified variables. It is measured by the chi-square test

   2. ( as modifier )

      a contingency table

      the contingency coefficient

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Etymology

Origin of contingency

First recorded in 1555–65; conting(ent) + -ency

Explanation

If you plan to walk home if the weather is nice, but bring subway fare just in case, then taking the subway is your contingency plan. A contingency is an event you can't be sure will happen or not. The noun contingency describes something that might or might not happen. We use it to describe an event or situation that is a possible outcome but one that's impossible to predict with certainty. A company might have a contingency plan for what to do if something goes wrong with their primary strategy, also known as "plan B." They might even have plans C, D, and E, to prepare for multiple contingencies.

Example Sentences

UC campuses and medical centers are making contingency plans and communicating with patients, students, faculty and staff about potential disruptions.

From Los Angeles Times • May 13, 2026

Holidaymakers have been urged not to change their travel plans as there is currently no fuel shortage in the UK and there are contingency plans in place.

From BBC • May 7, 2026

New contingency plans have been drawn up by the government to let carriers plan ahead, helping to avoid disruptive last-minute cancellations for passengers.

From BBC • May 2, 2026

If a lawyer is going to charge a contingency fee, the client should be told, in plain English, what the lawyer knows about the underlying claim value.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 30, 2026

So I made sure to load up all of my combat contingency macros.

From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline

Related Words

• emergency
• eventuality
• exigency
• probability