contraceptive
Americanadjective
-
tending or serving to prevent conception or impregnation.
-
pertaining to contraception.
noun
-
contraceptives
plural
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of contraceptive
First recorded in 1890–95; contra- 1 ( def. ) + (con)ceptive ( def. )
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.
See Examples For:
Clay Felker, the editor of Esquire, asked her to write about the social effects of the contraceptive pill, which was new at the time.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026
All pharmacists and pharmacy technicians delivering the service have received specialist training to provide emergency contraception and wider contraceptive care.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
Established in 1970 under the Public Health Service Act, the Title X program has traditionally aimed to provide access to affordable services, including contraceptive methods, pregnancy testing, options counseling, and sexually transmitted infection testing.
From Salon ● Apr. 28, 2026
Organon is best known for its Nexplanon contraceptive implant, but also offers fertility treatments and an expanding pipeline of biosimilars, Food and Drug Administration-approved versions of existing drugs.
From Barron's ● Apr. 27, 2026
Ritual and ethical absention and the use of contraceptive drugs seem to have played the major part in maintaining this stability.
From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin
For Bayer, the deal comes after the German agricultural-and-pharmaceutical group completed the sale of a minority stake in its long-acting reversible contraceptives business to Apollo for around 3 billion euros earlier this month.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026
Other options that have been mooted included giving pigeons contraceptives.
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026
In many states, for example, pharmacists now prescribe medications such as contraceptives and flu treatments.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 16, 2026
Kayla Healey, head of contraception at MSI Reproductive Choices says hormonal contraceptives can help with heavy periods or alleviating the symptoms of PMS.
From BBC ● Apr. 11, 2026
—Gethenians tend to have their children young; most of them, after the age of twenty-four or so, use contraceptives, and they cease to be fertile in the female phase at about forty.
From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin
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.
