continually

adverb

con·​tin·​u·​al·​ly kən-ˈtin-yü-ə-lē 

-yə-lē

: in a continual manner : without stopping or interruption

a security system that runs continually

We had endured a series of dark, gloomy, winter days, during which the sun had been continually hidden behind dense, rain clouds.

—George Thatcher

… I was too thoroughly swept away by this richly imagined and continually surprising novel to be concerned with cute comparisons.

—Edan Lepucki

They bickered continually, ignoring me as I worked around them.

—Paula Fox

: in a constantly repeated manner : over and over

being interrupted continually

She would write. I would read and edit, and sometimes shift the wordings, or change phrases or delete things. We would continually refine what was written.

—Herbie Hancock

Synonyms

• again and again
• constantly
• frequently
• hourly
• much
• oft
• often
• oftentimes
• ofttimes
• over and over
• repeatedly

Examples of continually in a Sentence

grew up in a time when children were continually being told to mind their manners

the computer program continually updates the file with new information

Recent Examples on the Web

Though Arthur Woods and others would petition endlessly for the creation of a proper national detective force, Congress had continually rejected the idea, wary of consolidating too much power in the federal government. —Steven Johnson, New York Times, 17 May 2024

The company has reached this point, in part, due to Jassy’s willingness to oversee the largest corporate layoffs in Amazon’s history in recent years and demand that his leaders continually squeeze out excess costs wherever possible. —Jason Del Rey, Fortune, 16 May 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English contynuely, from continuel continual + -ly -ly entry 2

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above