continent 1 of 2

as in mainland
one of the great divisions of land on the globe or the main part of such a division Europe and Asia are sometimes considered together to be one continent

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continent

2 of 2

adjective

as in temperate
given to or marked by restraint in the satisfaction of one's appetites a religious sect that expects its unmarried members to be completely celibate and its married adherents to maintain continent relationships

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of continent
Noun
And if Washington signed a trade deal with Pretoria, American officials might entice South Africa to work with the United States on its diplomatic efforts across the African continent. Richard Fontaine, Foreign Affairs, 27 Oct. 2025 Our programs grew not through press releases but through relationships — between junior officers and generals, engineers and strategists, across continents and commands. Big Think, 27 Oct. 2025
Adjective
The singer spent the past year flying around the world for her multi-continent Future Nostalgia tour and continued her jet-setting this past week with a trip to Groningen, Netherlands. Hannah Oh, Seventeen, 23 Jan. 2023 The resilient East African nation has rebounded over the past three decades; so, too, has its lion population, via a cross-continent initiative led by AndBeyond, African Parks and the Rwanda Development Board. Stephanie Vermillion, Robb Report, 3 Jan. 2023 See All Example Sentences for continent
Recent Examples of Synonyms for continent
Noun
  • While short-lived, the uprising had far-reaching consequences across England and mainland Europe.
    Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 30 Oct. 2025
  • There was also an improvement in mainland China, which had previously dragged down the company’s performance.
    Kathryn Hopkins, Footwear News, 30 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Yes, holiday cactus thrives outside during summer in temperate conditions.
    Megan Hughes, Better Homes & Gardens, 22 Oct. 2025
  • Winter is also a good time to plant bare-root trees and hardy shrubs in temperate climates.
    William Jones, USA Today, 21 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • How can a kindly, God-fearing, and ascetic novice monk compete against that?
    Karl Ove Knausgaard, New Yorker, 21 Oct. 2025
  • In fact, the ascetic value of fasting from meat required that the person otherwise enjoy it.
    Livia Gershon, JSTOR Daily, 4 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • Some have evolved exceedingly specific diets—diets that would put even the most abstemious human to shame.
    Scott Travers, Forbes, 12 Mar. 2025
  • The solution offered up by some: the sort of abstemious, low-fat, often vegetarian, diets that had been prescribed as lust-control regimens only decades earlier.
    Rachel Hope Cleves / Made by History, TIME, 14 Feb. 2025
Adjective
  • Ivan Neville has been on a few times and always talks being abstinent.
    Shirley Halperin, Rolling Stone, 1 Oct. 2025
  • As a purist, Murray defines sobriety as being completely abstinent from habit-forming substances that could cause dependency, including prescription drugs like Xanax and Suboxone.
    Frederick Melo, Twin Cities, 23 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Continent.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/continent. Accessed 5 Nov. 2025.

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