Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of contracted
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.
Vocabulary lists containing contracted
"Watership Down" by Richard Adams, Chapter 43-Epilogue
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Stories of Ourselves
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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.
As a result, the army, navy and air force contracted.
From BBC • Jun. 12, 2026
The latest GDP data showed the U.K. economy contracted by 0.1% on month in April, down from 0.3% growth in March.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 12, 2026
Blue Origin has been slated to launch some 30% of those contracted satellites, according to Amazon, which has contracted launches with Arianespace and ULA as well.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 9, 2026
“With a differentiated architecture, a step-change in contracted revenue from OpenAI and AWS, and a market only now learning to pay for speed, we see an asymmetric, upside-skewed setup,” wrote Wedbush’s Bryson.
From Barron's • Jun. 8, 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
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.
