Meaning & use
contentedness
Last updated
Meaning
noununcountableformal
A quiet, settled feeling of being satisfied with what you have, without wanting more.
Grammar: Uncountable: a deep contentedness, not a contentedness; the more common word is contentment.
Patterns
- a sense of contentedness
- contentedness with something
A look of contentedness settled on his face as he watched the sunset.
Her contentedness with village life surprised her city friends.
There was a quiet contentedness in the room after the meal.
Common combinations
- sense of contentedness
- She felt a sense of contentedness after finishing the garden.
- deep contentedness
- A deep contentedness filled the old couple's home.
- quiet contentedness
- He read in quiet contentedness by the fire.
- air of contentedness
- The cat had an air of contentedness on the windowsill.
- contentedness with life
- His contentedness with life made him easy to be around.
Synonyms and how they differ
- contentment
- Contentment is the far more common word with the same meaning, whereas contentedness sounds slightly bookish.
- satisfaction
- Satisfaction usually follows an achievement or a need being met, while contentedness is a calm, lasting state.
- serenity
- Serenity stresses peace and calm, while contentedness stresses being happy with what you have.
- happiness
- Happiness can be excited and short-lived, but contentedness is steady and quiet.
Opposites
Word family
- content adjective
- happy with what you have
- contentment noun
- the state of being satisfied
- contented adjective
- showing quiet satisfaction
- contentedly adverb
- in a satisfied, peaceful way
Commonly confused: contentedness or contents? contentedness or contention?
contentedness vs contents
Contents means what is inside something, as in the contents of a box, and is stressed on the first syllable.
contentedness vs contention
Contention means disagreement or a claim in an argument, and is quite different from calm satisfaction.
Practice
After years of travel, she found real ______ in her small home by the sea.
Choose one answer.
Contentedness is a calm satisfaction. Contention and contempt look similar but mean disagreement and scorn.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “contentedness”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.