What does continually mean?
'Continually' is an adverb meaning repeatedly or frequently over a stretch of time — happening again and again, typically with pauses between occurrences. It derives from the Latin 'continuus', meaning 'unbroken' or 'hanging together', which gives English the related words 'continue', 'continuous', and 'continuity'. In careful usage, 'continually' is distinguished from its near-twin 'continuously': a phone that rings continually rings often but stops and starts, while one that rings continuously never falls silent at all. In everyday speech the two are frequently blurred, though the distinction remains valuable in formal writing. The word often colors descriptions of human behavior with mild disapproval, as in someone who 'continually interrupts', but it is equally at home in neutral contexts such as science, technology, and nature — systems that are continually refined, landscapes continually reshaped, knowledge continually expanded.
adverbRepeatedly or frequently over a period of time; again and again. In careful usage it denotes recurrence with interruptions, as opposed to 'continuously', which denotes action without any break.
- Repeatedly or frequently occurring over a period of time, with intervals between instances.
- (In looser everyday use) constantly, without noticeable interruption.
"The software is continually updated to patch newly discovered security flaws."
"She was continually interrupted by phone calls during the meeting."
"The coastline is continually reshaped by tides and storms."
English quietly keeps two '-ly' twins apart: if it happens again and again, it's continual; if it never stops even for a second, it's continuous.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of continually
'Continually' comes from 'continual', borrowed in the late Middle Ages from Old French, ultimately rooted in the Latin 'continuus' ('unbroken, hanging together'), from 'continēre' ('to hold together'). The adverb formed with the '-ly' suffix has been in English since roughly the 14th–15th centuries. Its siblings 'continue', 'continuous', 'continuity', and 'continuum' all descend from the same Latin root.
Related word forms
How continually is actually used
Prescriptivists have long distinguished 'continually' (recurrent, with breaks) from 'continuously' (unbroken), and this distinction is worth honoring in formal writing; in casual speech, however, the two are often used interchangeably. The word carries a neutral-to-negative connotation when describing human behavior, as in 'he continually complained'.
Easily confused with continually
'Continually' means repeatedly with pauses or interruptions between occurrences, while 'continuously' means without any break at all.