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Synonyms

contracted

American  
[kuhn-trak-tid] / kənˈtræk tɪd /

adjective

  1. drawn together; reduced in compass or size; made smaller; shrunken.

  2. condensed; abridged.

  3. (of the mind, outlook, etc.) narrow or illiberal; restricted.

    a contracted view of human rights.


Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of contracted

First recorded in 1540–50; contract + -ed 2

Explanation

Something contracted has shrunk or become smaller. Your pupils tend to be contracted in bright sunlight. Contracted is an adjective that usually describes physical things. If your eyebrows look contracted, they are probably furrowed and scrunched up. If your tummy is contracted, it is probably drawn in and flat. Economies and budgets can also be contracted, if they have undergone the painful process of shrinking. If your belly is contracted, buy a bikini. If your budget is contracted, you are better off not buying anything.

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Vocabulary lists containing contracted

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.

Utilities with large, contracted data center customer bases in high-growth corridors are being repriced from regulated infrastructure to strategic AI assets.

From MarketWatch • May 27, 2026

One US citizen who contracted Ebola in eastern DRC was taken to an isolation unit in Germany last week, along with his wife and four children.

From Barron's • May 27, 2026

Among them was Amanda Zurawski, a Texas woman who contracted sepsis and lost a fallopian tube in 2021 after doctors refused to induce her at 18 weeks pregnant in circumstances much like Waldorf’s.

From Salon • May 27, 2026

They are believed to have contracted Ebola on 27 March while working in the eastern region of Ituri on a project unrelated to the virus, before the outbreak was identified.

From BBC • May 23, 2026

But she had died, nine years ago, and his father had contracted, as if a weight had settled on him and concertinaed him downward and inward.

From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell

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