Content Meaning
/kənˈtɛnt/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
adjSatisfied, pleased, contented.
nounSatisfaction, contentment; pleasure.
Sentence Examples
When left alone, he cried to his heart's content.
The notorious dictator abused his privileges to his heart's content.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
After a full meal and a warm bed, the traveler felt completely ____.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
When left alone, he cried to his heart's ____.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English contenten (“to satisfy”), from Latin contentus (“contained; satisfied”), past participle of continēre (“to contain”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"This new-comer was a man who in any company would have seemed striking.[…]He was smooth-faced, and his fresh skin and well-developed figure bespoke the man in good physical condition through active exercise, yet well content with the world's apportionment."
— 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
"You, Aubrey, are my most complete man. You're brave, compassionate, kind: a content man. That is your secret—contentment; I am 24 and I've never known it. I'm forever in pursuit, and I don't even know what I am chasing."
— 1981, Colin Welland, Chariots of Fire, spoken by Harold M. Abrahams:
"‘It is very difficult to […] learn to seek content, instead of happiness.’"
— 1788, Mary Wollstonecraft, Mary: A Fiction:
"‘I understand you—upon every other subject, but the only one, my content requires, you are ready to obey me.’"
— 1791, Elizabeth Inchbald, A Simple Story, Penguin, published 2009, page 287:
"Like an empress, I feel great content surrounded by the familiar sounds of laughter, bickering, rattling plates, clicking chopsticks, smacking lips, and noisy sipping of the longevity brew."
— 2008, Mingmei Yip, Peach Blossom Pavilion:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
After a full meal and a warm bed, the traveler felt completely ____.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
When left alone, he cried to his heart's ____.