contingency

[ kuhn-tin-juhn-see ]

/ kənˈtɪn dʒən si /

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See synonyms for: contingency / contingencies on Thesaurus.com

noun, plural con·tin·gen·cies.

dependence on chance or on the fulfillment of a condition; uncertainty; fortuitousness: Nothing was left to contingency.

a contingent event; a chance, accident, or possibility conditional on something uncertain: He was prepared for every contingency.

something incidental to a thing.

OTHER WORDS FOR contingency

2 emergency, likelihood, predicament.

See synonyms for contingency on Thesaurus.com

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of contingency

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

Words nearby contingency

continental system, continental United States, continently, continents, contingence, contingency, contingency fee, contingency fund, contingency plan, contingency reserve, contingency table

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use contingency in a sentence

In general, brand and media spend is going through serious schedule shifting and contingency planning.
‘Now is time to come up with pivot plans:’ e-commerce is driving media spending over the holidays|Seb Joseph|October 5, 2020|Digiday
It’s not clear yet whether any of those arguments will be delayed because of Ginsburg’s death, though in the past the court has been able to continue with at least six judges and contingencies for ties.
Five issues the Supreme Court will be deciding on this term|Alexandra Ossola|September 21, 2020|Quartz
Bent Flyvbjerg, an economist at Oxford’s Saïd Business School and leader of the research, accused the IOC of being “either deluded, or deliberately overlooking uncomfortable facts” when it sets contingency levels for the games.
Want to Host the Olympics? Plan to Go Over Budget|Fiona Zublin|September 14, 2020|Ozy
Some advertisers are going as far as to put contingency clauses in their contracts with influencers to guarantee that their TikTok campaigns will run on Instagram in the absence of the video-sharing app.
‘There’s been no emails or interest’: As the drama over TikTok intensifies, advertiser interest cools|Seb Joseph|August 6, 2020|Digiday

We had contingency plans about how to manage if X percent of staff were ill, now that feels naive.
How BBC Global News has adapted to remote reporting|Lucinda Southern|June 4, 2020|Digiday
The bill also provided $64 billion in war funding through the Overseas Contingency Operations account.
Merry Christmas, Defense Contractors!|Veronique de Rugy|December 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
We, on the other hand, on the police side, will naturally gear up to deal with any potential contingency that might occur.
After No Indictment for Eric Garner Killer, Is NYC the Next Ferguson?|Jacob Siegel|December 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
All the money would be classified as war funding in the overseas contingency operations part of the defense budget.
Obama Wants a Blank Check to Fight ISIS—and Congress Is Ready to Give It to Him|Josh Rogin, Tim Mak|September 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Turkey has cooperated at times with Israel and the West on contingency planning for Syria during its civil war.
Israel Bombs Gaza While Hamas’ Kidnapping Mastermind Sits in Turkey|Eli Lake|July 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He arrived in L.A. with nowhere to go, no job, no money, and no contingency.
From Homeless to HBO, ‘The Leftovers’ Star Chris Zylka’s Crazy Hollywood Story|Kevin Fallon|June 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The painful contingency of continued bad seasons has thus, in some measure, been provided against.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV.|Various
A note that is payable on a contingency is not negotiable, and the happening of the event does not cure the defect.
Putnam's Handy Law Book for the Layman|Albert Sidney Bolles
Ken, it is said, acknowledged that under such a contingency he should feel wholly released from his allegiance.
The English Church in the Eighteenth Century|Charles J. Abbey and John H. Overton
The House was relieved to hear from Mr. Brace that there was no immediate danger of this contingency.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 152, May 16, 1917.|Various
Sir Robert Peel said, that he doubted the right of any one to catechise his party on the results of a contingency.
The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.III.|E. Farr and E. H. Nolan

British Dictionary definitions for contingency

contingency

/ (kənˈtɪndʒənsɪ) /

noun plural -cies

a possible but not very likely future event or condition; eventuality
(as modifier)a contingency plan

something dependent on a possible future event

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

(in systemic grammar)

modification of the meaning of a main clause by use of a bound clause introduced by a binder such as if, when, though, or sinceCompare adding (def. 3)
(as modifier)a contingency clause

logic

the state of being contingent
a contingent statement

dependence on chance; uncertainty

statistics

the degree of association between theoretical and observed common frequencies of two graded or classified variables. It is measured by the chi-square test
(as modifier)a contingency table; the contingency coefficient

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

contingency

OTHER WORDS FOR contingency

Origin of contingency

Words nearby contingency

Words related to contingency

How to use contingency in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for contingency