contractor
noun
Simple meaning
A person or company that builds or improves buildings or structures.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
kahntrakterSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈkɑntɹæktɚ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A person or company that builds or improves buildings or structures.
A person or company that performs specific tasks like electrical or plumbing work in construction projects.
A person or company hired to maintain existing facilities like air conditioning systems, groundskeeping, etc.
A person hired to do a job on a business contract, as opposed to a permanent employee.
law
A party to a contract
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A2 · Elementary (estimated)
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A person or company that builds or improves buildings or structures.
Used this way, contractor is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in business or professional contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where it naturally appears
- Business/professional
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use contractor
- “We hired a contractor to remodel our kitchen this summer.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Company
Other combinations
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
Related to A person or company that builds or improves buildings or structures.
By virtue of a contract.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A contractor concerned with the development and manufacture of systems of defense.
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What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.