contingency

American  

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

noun

• contingencies
  plural

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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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• contingencies
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of contingency

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

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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

See Examples For:

contingency contingencies

“Good contingency plans if need be,” McVay said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2026

With no agreed budget for 2025/26, Stormont departments have been operating under contingency arrangements allowing them to spend up to 95% of last year's funding.

From BBC ● Oct. 20, 2026

In Kyiv, which is home to some three million people, Zelensky has openly criticised Klitschko for the pace of winter contingency planning.

From Barron's ● Oct. 20, 2026

“If we can’t use our base when we have a contingency, what’s the point of having the base and, frankly, the point of the alliance?” he said on Fox News.

From Slate ● Oct. 8, 2026

Mother tried to think of every contingency, including hunger and illness.

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver

“We have prepared for a range of contingencies ... so that we’re ready to act,” Weiser said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2026

One person keeping a close eye on the meteorological calendar is Gary Quinn, who is part of Northern Ireland's civil contingencies group.

From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2026

Or more redundancy could have been built into the supply chains, but this would have cost money for contingencies that few took seriously enough to fund.

From Slate ● Aug. 19, 2026

Here are their Social-Security decision points and the contingencies they need to plan for.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 12, 2026

It works out contingencies and relationships and sorts through the mountain of information we get from the outside world, prioritizing it and putting flags on things that demand our immediate attention.

From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell

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Related Words

• emergency
• eventuality
• exigency
• probability

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