adj. 1
Possible or liable, but not certain, to occur.
adj. 2
Dependent on something that is undetermined or unknown, that may or may not occur.
The success of his undertaking is contingent upon events which he cannot control.
n. 1
An event which may or may not happen; that which is unforeseen, undetermined, or dependent on something in the future.

Related words

Word family: contact contingence contingency
Phrases: contingent claim
Other spellings: contingential

Forms

Plural: contingents → contingencies, chances, eventualities, proportions…

Choose the right word

or Contingent?

We call a thing contingent when it is such that, considered in itself, it may or may not happen, but is dependent for its existence on something else; as, the time of my coming will be contingent on intelligence yet to be received.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Example sentences

fortuitous How fortuitous that you were there on the same night!
conditional The love was conditional; it hinged on my finances.
dependent She is still financially dependent on her parents.
uncertain Tom told me that he's uncertain what he should do.
provisional After the revolution, a provisional government ruled.

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
contingent		steady
fortuitous		falling
conditional		rising
dependent		steady
uncertain		steady
provisional		falling

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

5 letters: share¹, quota²
6 letters: chance¹, detail², casual³
7 letters: portion²
8 letters: possible³, accident³
9 letters: happening³, qualified³, dependent³, uncertain³, allotment³, dependant
10 letters: proportion³, accidental⁴, incidental⁴, fortuitous⁴
11 letters: provisional⁴, conditional⁴, conditioned³, contingency⁴, eventuality⁶
14 letters: circumstantial⁴

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (quota² = 2 syllables).

In other languages

Français: contingent
Italiano: contingente
Deutsch: Kontingent