continuous
Americanadjective
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uninterrupted in time; without cessation.
continuous coughing during the concert.
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being in immediate connection or spatial relationship.
a continuous series of blasts; a continuous row of warehouses.
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Grammar. progressive.
adjective
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prolonged without interruption; unceasing
a continuous noise
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in an unbroken series or pattern
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maths (of a function or curve) changing gradually in value as the variable changes in value. A function f is continuous if at every value a of the independent variable the difference between f( x ) and f( a ) approaches zero as x approaches a Compare discontinuous See also limit
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statistics (of a variable) having a continuum of possible values so that its distribution requires integration rather than summation to determine its cumulative probability Compare discrete
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grammar another word for progressive
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Relating to a line or curve that extends without a break or irregularity.
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A function in which changes, however small, to any x- value result in small changes to the corresponding y- value, without sudden jumps. Technically, a function is continuous at the point c if it meets the following condition: for any positive number ε, however small, there exists a positive number δ such that for all x within the distance δ from c, the value of f (x) will be within the distance ε from f (c). Polynomials, exponential functions, and trigonometric functions are examples of continuous functions.
Usage
Both continual and continuous can be used to say that something continues without interruption, but only continual can correctly be used to say that something keeps happening repeatedly
Commonly Confused
See continual.
Other Word Forms
- continuously adverb
- continuousness noun
- noncontinuous adjective
- noncontinuousness noun
- quasi-continuous adjective
- semicontinuous adjective
- uncontinuous adjective
Etymology
Origin of continuous
First recorded in 1635–45; from Latin continuus “uninterrupted,” equivalent to contin(ēre) “to hold together, retain” ( con- con- + -tinēre, combining form of tenēre “to hold”; contain ) + -uus adjective suffix; -ous, contiguous
Compare meaning
How does continuous compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
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.
In the study, six patients between 9 months and 38 years old received continuous sildenafil treatment.
From Science Daily
Marvell’s chips and accelerators should be even more valuable in a world driven by agentic AI, seeing as the technology requires continuous loops of reasoning, tool use, memory retrieval, and task coordination.
From Barron's
Magnetic and electronic storage devices often lose data after only a few years, especially without continuous power, cooling, and maintenance.
From Science Daily
Instead of a continuous spectrum like sunlight, which spreads smoothly across all colors, the Crab Pulsar produces distinct, separated bands.
From Science Daily
Meteorologists across Tornado Alley are racing to close a critical gap in storm tracking—a lack of continuous data.
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.
