continual
Often confused with continuous
- 1Happening again and again, steadily and in quick succession.
The bridge has needed continual patching since the day it opened.
Continual interruptions from the hallway made the meeting drag on for hours.
Similarrepeated, frequent, constant, recurrent, incessant
Oppositeoccasional, intermittent, sporadic
Note
Latin continuus, "continuous", sits behind it, given the French suffix -el, so the word began as a near-twin of continuous. Careful usage now keeps it for what recurs with gaps in between: continual rebuilding, continual patching, continual interruptions. Each happening is separate; what never lets up is how often they come.
- 2Seeming to go on without any end or interruption.
The continual roar of the waterfall filled the valley day and night.
Residents complained about the continual hum of the generators behind the plant.
Similarconstant, continuous, incessant, ceaseless, unceasing
Oppositeintermittent
Note
Here the word strays into the territory of continuous, and usage guides object. By their rule a roar or a hum that never pauses is continuous, while continual stays with the again-and-again sense, for things that stop and start. In formal writing, continuous is the safe choice for any sound or motion without a break.
- 3Forming an unbroken series.
A continual row of shops runs the whole length of the street.
The islands form a continual chain from the bay out to the open sea.
Similarcontinuous, unbroken, uninterrupted
Oppositebroken
Note
Space rather than time is the setting: a row, a chain, a line of things. The same rule applies as for the "seemingly endless" sense, and the test is simple: if the parts join into one unbroken series, careful editors write continuous, so a continual chain of islands would usually come back from an editor as a continuous chain.
Practice
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Origin
From Middle English continuel, from Old French continuel, formed from Latin continuus ("continuous") with the suffix -el; it is equivalent to continue + -al.