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:
My smart ring captures nightly skin-temperature data for Natural Cycles, an FDA-cleared digital contraceptive.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
One promising candidate was lynestrenol, a hormone drug currently approved for certain menstrual disorders and contraceptive use.
From Science Daily ● May 29, 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
Jade Boden-de Mel first experienced "unbearable" pain at 17 but says medics could not identify the cause and prescribed the contraceptive pill to manage it.
From BBC ● Apr. 8, 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
The long-acting contraceptives business focuses on methods that prevent pregnancy for a long period of time, such as the intrauterine device, according to Bayer’s website.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
In many states, for example, pharmacists now prescribe medications such as contraceptives and flu treatments.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 16, 2026
Currently there are no hormonal contraceptives for men although some gels and pills are being tested.
From BBC ● Apr. 11, 2026
She was given various contraceptives to ease the pain but they did not help.
From BBC ● Mar. 2, 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.
