During a West Coast road trip, my partner and I started in Arizona and drove through Nevada, Utah, Nevada again, all of California, Oregon, and Washington. We’d spend the days having enthusiastic discussions about precise definitions of words. (He called them “arguments” for some reason.) Was our road trip contiguous or continuous? What about the states we visited? And the playlist of single-genre music that just wouldn’t stop?

Let’s pull over and figure this one out.

(If you make a purchase using the links in this post, we may earn a commission.) 

Contiguous vs. Continuous at a Glance

Contiguous and continuous are great examples of adjectives formed through affixation. This means that we created them by adding affixes (prefixes or suffixes) to a root word. Once we break them down into their individual parts, they become easy to keep straight.

Contiguous: Things that are touching or next to each other.

• Con-: together or with (prefix)
• -tig-: to touch (root)
• -uous: characterized by (suffix)

Continuous : Something holding together or uninterrupted in sequence.

• Con-: together or with (prefix)
• -tin-: to hold (root)
• -uous: characterized by (suffix)

When To Use Contiguous

We most often use contiguous to describe the Continental United States, which includes the 49 states that are in North America and excludes the island of Hawaii. That means our road trip was contiguous because all the states we visited were touching.

Contiguous Examples:

• We drove through several contiguous towns on Monterey Bay and had uninterrupted access to shops, restaurants, and beaches.
• We stayed in hotels that were contiguous to the highways so that we didn’t have to detour much.
• The buildings on our friends’ homestead in Oregon were not contiguous; we had to go outside into the rain to get to the outhouse and our yurt.

When To Use Continuous

Continuous appears much more frequently in everyday English, and we use it to characterize anything that occurs nonstop. We also use it for a sequence of objects or events. So, the smooth jazz playlist that was driving me crazy was continuous, not contiguous.

Continuous Examples

• On the first day, we drove on a long, continuous state highway through the desert until we reached the Grand Canyon.
• The winter rain in Oregon and Washington was a continuous shower, which made the drive feel endless but was oddly satisfying.
• One night at a hotel, we watched a continuous stream of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” until our stomachs hurt from laughing so hard.

Contiguous vs. Continuous: A Journey

Eventually, I used the dictionary app I have on my phone, and we settled the contiguous vs. continuous debate. But it was quite the journey for us to get there. Hopefully, it was quicker and much less dramatic for you!

If you’ve ever stumbled over tricky words, you’re not alone. Boost your confidence and mastery of the English language with these excellent resources on commonly confused words.

👉 BUY – Commonly Misspelled and Confused Words QuickStudy Laminated Reference Guide

👉 BUY – 600+ Confusing English Words Explained

Do you have a story about choosing between words like contiguous and continuous that look and sound similar but mean different things? Tell us about it in the comments below! Then, don’t forget to check out our other discussions about confusing words to become a wordsmith!