continual
Often confused with continuous
- 1Happening again and again, often and with only short breaks.
Her continual phone calls made it hard for me to finish my homework.
The old car needs continual repairs, so we are saving for a new one.
Similarrepeated, frequent, constant, recurrent, incessant
Oppositeoccasional, intermittent, sporadic
Note
- 2Seeming to go on and on without ever stopping.
Ugh, the continual noise from that highway is driving me crazy!
We had continual rain the whole week, honestly not one dry hour.
Similarconstant, continuous, incessant, ceaseless, unceasing
Oppositeintermittent
Note
- 3Following one after another with no gaps in between.
There was a continual line of cars all the way to the beach, no gaps at all.
The fence is one continual row of posts around the whole farm.
Similarcontinuous, unbroken, uninterrupted
Oppositebroken
Note
Practice
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Origin
It comes from Old French continuel, from the Latin word continuus, "continuous".