continually
See also: continuously
English
Etymology
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /kənˈtɪnjuəli/, /kənˈtɪnjəli/
Audio (US): (file) - Hyphenation: con‧tin‧u‧al‧ly
Adverb
continually (comparative more continually, superlative most continually)
- In regular or repeated succession; very often.
- 2007, George W. Norton, E. A. Heinrichs, Gregory C. Luther, Globalizing Integrated Pest Management: A Participatory Research Process, page 87:
- Guatemalan snowpea production has continually been harmed by insect and disease infestations.
- (sometimes proscribed) In a continuous manner; non-stop.
Usage notes
- According to Garner's Modern English Usage, continually and continuously mean different things. Continually means that something happens regularly but in discrete bursts ("The municipality continually issued boil-water advisories at a rate of almost once a month"), while continuously means that something is happening at a constant and uninterrupted rate ("The lava has continuously erupted from the volcano for a week; it has not stopped erupting even for one second").
- Garner offers this mnemonic: imagine that the -ous of continuous stands for "one uninterrupted sequence".
Synonyms
- (in regular or repeated succession): time and again, little by little, momently; see also Thesaurus:gradually or Thesaurus:sequentially
- (in a continuous manner): ceaselessly, incessantly, nonstop; see also Thesaurus:continuously
Derived terms
Translations
in regular or repeated succession
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in a continuous manner
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References
- William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “continually”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
- “continually”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.