contour

American  

[kon-toor] / ˈkɒn tʊər /

noun

• contours
  plural

1. the outline of a figure or body; the edge or line that defines or bounds a shape or object.

   Synonyms:

   boundary, form, configuration

2. contour line.

3. Phonetics. a distinctive pattern of changes in pitch, stress, or tone extending across all or part of an utterance, especially across a sentence, and contributing to meaning.

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verb (used with object)

• contours,
  present (3rd person singular)
• contoured,
  past participle,  past
• contouring
  present participle

1. to mark with contour lines.

2. to make or form the contour or outline of.

3. to build (a road, railroad track, etc.) in conformity with the contour of the land.

4. to mold or shape so as to fit a certain configuration.

   cars with seats that are contoured for comfort.

5. to apply foundation and bronzer along the natural bone structure of (the face) to create definition.

   ways to contour your nose.

adjective

1. molded or shaped to fit a particular contour or form.

   contour seats.

2. Agriculture. of or used in a system of plowing, cultivating, sowing, etc., along the contour lines of the land in order to trap water runoff and prevent erosion.

contour British  

/ ˈkɒntʊə /

noun

1. the outline of a mass of land, figure, or body; a defining line

2. 1. See contour line

   2. ( as modifier )

      a contour map

3. (often plural) the shape or surface, esp of a curving form

   the contours of her body were full and round

4. (modifier) shaped to fit the form of something

   a contour chair

5. a rising and falling variation pattern, as in music and intonation

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verb

1. to shape so as to form the contour of something

2. to mark contour lines on

3. to construct (a road, railway, etc) to follow the outline of the land

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• recontour
  verb (used with object)
• uncontoured
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• contours
  plural

Participles

• contouring
  present
• contoured
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• contour
  simple
• contours
  simple
• have contoured
  perfect
• has contoured
  perfect
• am contouring
  progressive
• are contouring
  progressive
• is contouring
  progressive
• have been contouring
  perfect progressive
• has been contouring
  perfect progressive

Past

• contoured
  simple
• had contoured
  perfect
• was contouring
  progressive
• were contouring
  progressive
• had been contouring
  perfect progressive

Future

• will contour
  simple
• will have contoured
  perfect
• will be contouring
  progressive
• will have been contouring
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of contour

First recorded in 1655–65; from French, equivalent to con- + tour “a turn,” modeled on Italian contorno, derivative of contornare “to outline”; see origin at con-, tour, turn

Explanation

Contour is the outline or shape of something. A shoe that fits well along the contours or shape of your foot is a good fit. Contour comes from the Italian contorno meaning "to draw a line," which is precisely what you are doing when you trace the contour of something. A road that contours a mountain follows along its edge and a mattress that contours to your body, adjusts to your shape. You might buy the kind of shoes that are designed to contour or mold to the shape of your feet over time, in which case you'll have to break them in.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

contour contours contoured contouring

Yes, the contour palette is back, though Patrick says “no-makeup makeup” is still very much here.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 8, 2025

Sometimes they are used to contour or shape the nose or lips.

From BBC ● Dec. 3, 2025

And even that contour was ever-changing, different depending on what form Mansfield took on to please the world.

From Salon ● Jun. 27, 2025

Sometimes, Goode included a contour drawing of the bottle behind it on the canvas, suggesting that one is the projection of the other.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 27, 2025

I count contour lines and multiply by twenty.

From "On the Far Side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead George

“Early punctuation focused on the contours of the sentence, giving us the comma, colon, and period,” Ms. Hazrat writes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

For the new research, the team built a collection of silly sprinklers with different contours.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 17, 2026

The problems that could have been anticipated two years ago are now arriving in real time: data center backlash, energy strain, some workforce dislocation, cybersecurity vulnerabilities, the early contours of biosecurity risk.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026

The contours of Pride appear in my mind whenever I’m watching a movie that I feel speaks to my own uniquely homosexual sensibilities, which frequently change.

From Salon ● Jun. 18, 2026

Nkiruka, her brightest student, shaded contours into the faces and, with a few strokes of her pencil, gave Gowon a snarl and His Excellency a grin.

From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Boone’s design, patented in 1892, was narrow and curved, rather than wide and flat, allowing garments to be slipped over the board, and making it far easier to iron sleeves and contoured bodices.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 9, 2026

This hero was contoured and svelte, wealthy and suave, a Wall Street whiz and owner of land, a man who wore Brioni suits and a Cartier family heirloom watch.

From Slate ● Nov. 28, 2023

But the heart of the product remains its flexible, contoured foot bed, produced in Germany.

From New York Times ● Sep. 13, 2023

When Miss World became popular in India, it also brought a different idea of beauty - of tiny sculpted waists, sherbet gowns and a heavily contoured face.

From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2023

The third was the same figure, white on white, the raised parts pipe cleaners contoured side by side and glued onto a white cloth-covered backing.

From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood

Selfies were becoming more prevalent as social media grew, and standards of beauty hewed close to celebrity Kim Kardashian’s looks, especially in regards to eye makeup and products used for face contouring.

From MarketWatch ● Feb. 7, 2026

Some hail it as the future of non-invasive contouring, but others condemn it as dystopian, and say the company is making women feel more insecure.

From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2025

Skye concedes that writing a memoir is a challenge, but not so much emotionally as narratively — contouring the flow and storytelling with an editor’s sharp eye.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 4, 2025

In a follow-up article in November, the society said that because of the injectable drugs, the well-established link between “weight loss and body contouring is becoming ever more connected.”

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 29, 2024

Now she brought out fake eyelashes, green shadow, black liner, base, contouring brushes, eyebrow pencil, coral gloss.

From "Genuine Fraud" by E. Lockhart

Related Words

• curve
• silhouette