Word.ws English Dictionary

continental

Syllables: con·ti·nent·al/ˌkɒntɪˈnɛntl̩/US/ˌkɑntɪˈnɛntl̩/

continental adjective: of or relating to a continent or continents.

Adjective (1)

continental (comparative more continental, superlative most continental)

  1. Of or relating to a continent or continents.
    • continental drift
    • Offshore to the west of the continental margin during the Early Triassic, the Sonoma highlands formed a volcanic island arc, separated from the mainland by a shallow sea that cut through western Nevada and northwestern Utah.2012, Chinle Miller, “The Tectonic Forces of the Mesozoic”, in In Mesozoic Lands: The Mesozoic Geology of Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, Kindle edition, page 34
  2. Of the mainland, as opposed to an island offshore.
    • continental Europe
    • The outline of continental Ireland is proximately that of a rhomboid ; and, in a general view, is greatly more continuous or less indented and undulated by cuts and sweeps of the sea than the outline of continental Great Britain.1846 The Parliamentary gazetteer of Ireland (A. Fullarton, Dublin) Vol.1 p.x "Introduction; Extent"
    Synonyms:
    mainland
  3. Relating to, or characteristic of, continental Europe.
    • continental breakfast
    • at Monte Carlo or some of the other Continental gambling-hells1908, W[illiam] B[lair] M[orton] Ferguson, chapter I, in Zollenstein, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC
  4. (US, historical) Of or relating to the confederated colonies collectively, in the time of the Revolutionary War.
    • continental money

Noun (1)

continental (plural continentals)

  1. Someone from the continent.
    • Reflecting on his long career chronicling scientists, J. G. Crowther wondered why it was that in the grand debates over the nature of light, x-rays, and cathode rays, the British opted for particles and the continentals for waves.2012, Marjorie Senechal, I Died for Beauty: Dorothy Wrinch and the Cultures of Science
  2. (US, historical) A member of the Continental army.
  3. (US, historical) Paper scrip (paper money) issued by the continental congress, largely worthless by the end of the war.
  4. (broadly, obsolete) The smallest amount; a whit; a jot.
    • not worth a continental
    • I don't care a continental!

Adjective (2) capitalized: Continental

Continental (not comparable)

  1. Synonym of European (including insular Europe, such as Britain, Ireland)
    Synonyms:
    European
    1. (UK, alternative) Alternative form of continental, continental European.
    2. (UK, alternative) Alternative form of continental (pertaining to the European Union).
  2. (UK, US, historical) Pertaining to the colonies of British North America covered by the Continental Congress.

Noun (2) capitalized: Continental

Continental (plural Continentals)

  1. Synonym of European (a denizen of Europe)
    Synonyms:
    European
    1. (UK) A denizen of continental Europe
    2. (UK) A denizen of the European Union
  2. (UK, US, historical) A denizen of the colonies of British North America covered by the Continental Congress.

continental meaning in Marathi, Bengali, Telugu and Malayalam

continental in Marathi

महाद्वीपीय, खंडीय

continental in Bengali

মহাদেশীয়

continental in Telugu

ఖండాంతరం, కాంటినెంటల్, ఖండాంతర

continental in Malayalam

കോണ്ടിനെന്റൽ, കോണ്ടിനെൻ്റൽ
More languagesFewer languages
continental in Kannada
ಕಾಂಟಿನೆಂಟಲ್, ಖಂಡಾಂತರ, ಭೂಖಂಡೀಯ
continental in Punjabi
ਮਹਾਂਦੀਪੀ
continental in Gujarati
ખંડીય, મહાદ્વીપીય, કોન્ટિનેન્ટલ
continental in Odia
ମହାଦେଶୀଯ଼, ମହାଦ୍ୱୀପୀଯ଼
continental in Nepali
महाद्वीपीय, महादेशीय
continental in Arabic
قَارِّيّ qārriyy

Examples of continental in a sentence

  • Native peoples in the continental United States are called Native Americans or American Indians.
  • Presidentialism is the dominant form of government in the continental Americas.
  • Winning the continental championship was the zenith of my career.

All 40 example sentences with continental

Synonyms of continental

Antonyms

  • antonym(s) of

Forms of continental

Adjective
comparativemore continental
superlativemost continental
alternative formContinental
Noun
pluralcontinentals
pluralContinentals

Origin of continental

From continent + -al.

From Continent + -al.

Words formed from continental

Phrases with continental

2 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with continental

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about continental

What does continental mean?
Continental means of or relating to a continent or continents.
What is continental in Marathi?
Continental in Marathi is महाद्वीपीय, खंडीय. See Continental meaning in Marathi.
What part of speech is continental?
Continental can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce continental?
Continental is pronounced /ˌkɑntɪˈnɛntl̩/ (US).

Words near continental in the dictionary

  1. continences
  2. continencies
  3. continency
  4. continent
  5. continent of stability
  6. continental
  7. continental breakfast
  8. continental breakfasts
  9. continental crust
  10. continental crusts
  11. continental divide

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: continental (page history and authors); Continental (page history and authors); continental (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); continental (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); continental (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); continental (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); continental (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); continental (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); continental (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); continental (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); continental (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “continental.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/continental. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.