contractual

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UK/kənˈtɹæk.(t)ʃ(ʊ)əl/US/kənˈtɹæk.t͡ʃ(u)əl/

adjective

Of, relating to, or enforced by a contract.

“contractual rights, contractual obligations”

CommonScrabble 15

Meanings

adjectivecontractual (not comparable)
  1. not comparableOf, relating to, or enforced by a contract.

    contractual rights, contractual obligations

    1 more example

    "For myself, because of the baggage of 30 years of balkanisation, I think the elegant solution is to take operations back into the public sector. It will mean you can have a whole-industry approach to running the railway, unencumbered by contractual differences."

    2025 February 19, Paul Clifton, “I am absolutely committed to reforming the railway”, in RAIL, number 1029, page 41
nouncontractual (plural contractuals)

plural contractuals

  1. A contractualized employee; One who is hired as a temporary worker, especially one who is hired for a single project.

    Under House Bill 2173, job contracting, subcontracting, direct-hiring of contractuals, and use of labor cooperatives are expressly prohibited with hefty fines and imprisonment.

    2022 July 21, Wendell Vigilia, “Solons seek end to contractualization”, in Malaya Business Insight
    2 more examples

    […] Labor Day is just around the corner, hence, it is timely to examine the current and hot issues affecting the workers’ sector. One such issue concerns the matter of endos, contractuals and contractualized employees. / Endos, contractuals and contractualized employees do not enjoy full security of tenure rights as guaranteed by the Constitution and the Labor Code.

    2018 April 26, Art Amansec, “Of endos, ‘contractuals‘ and contractualized employees”, in BusinessMirror

    Serrano (2014, p. 84), meanwhile, claims that non-regular workers now account for around 30 percent of the labor force and that the top five industries that hire contractuals are real estate, renting and business activities, manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, construction workers and hotels and restaurants.

    2018, Mark R. Thompson, Eric Vincent C. Batalla, Routledge Handbook of the Contemporary Philippines, page 415
  2. accountingA charge for a service that is applied through a contract with another provider.

    Insurance and legal costs are sometimes written as contractuals.

    2017, Lorene M. Wales, The Complete Guide to Film and Digital Production, page 60
    3 more examples

    Additionally, the CALM general ledger has no account comparable to the contra ( offset ) account maintained by private sector medical centers for contractuals and discounts.

    1991, United States. Congress. House. Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Subcommittee on Hospitals and Health Care, H.R. 4935 and DVA's Medical Care Cost Recovery Program, page 96

    Contractuals are telephone, utilities, and other contracted services.

    1993, Technical Bulletin - Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, page 7

    Other Contractuals are usually Insurance, Completion Bond, and sometimes Legal Fees.

    2013, Robert Koster, The Budget Book for Film and Television, page 98
  3. governmentA contract specifying details of the relationship with another country or body

    The U.S. Senate on 1 July approved the German contractuals and the NATO protocol and ratification followed.

    1988, Doris M.. Condit, The Test of War: 1950-1953, page 392
    2 more examples

    If the Declaration continues to be deferred for the contractuals, it is bound to seem old and stale and insufficient when it finally comes, while if it were issued now, particularly if issued freely, it might have some significance as a concession, or gesture, made by the Three Powers to meet the wishes of Berliners.

    1956, United States. Dept. of State, Foreign Relations of the United States, page 1341

    It may be doubtful although not impossible that Congress willing ratify cultural convention pending or preceding ratification contractuals.

    1986, United States. Department of State, Foreign Relations of the United States: Diplomatic Papers, page 404

Origin

  1. Latincontractus
  2. Englishcontractual

Morphologically contract + -ual, from Latin contractus + -al.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan contractual
  • contractualof or pertaining to a contract
Chinese Mandarin 合同的
  • 合同的 (hétong de)of or pertaining to a contract
Dutch contractueel
  • contractueelof or pertaining to a contract
Finnish sopimuksellinen, sopimus-
  • sopimuksellinenof or pertaining to a contract
  • sopimus-of or pertaining to a contract
  • sopimusperusteinenof or pertaining to a contract
French contractuel
  • contractuelof or pertaining to a contract
German vertraglich, kontraktlich
  • vertraglichof or pertaining to a contract
  • kontraktlichof or pertaining to a contract
Hungarian szerződéses
  • szerződésesof or pertaining to a contract
Italian contrattuale
  • contrattualeof or pertaining to a contract
Norwegian Bokmål kontraktsmessig
  • kontraktsmessigof or pertaining to a contract
Polish umowny
  • umownyof or pertaining to a contract
Portuguese contratual
  • contratualof or pertaining to a contract
Russian контра́ктный, догово́рный
  • контра́ктный (kontráktnyj)of or pertaining to a contract
  • догово́рный (dogovórnyj)of or pertaining to a contract
  • конвенцио́нный (konvenciónnyj)of or pertaining to a contract
Spanish contractual
  • contractualof or pertaining to a contract
Cite this entry
APA

contractual. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/contractual

MLA

“contractual.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/contractual. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “contractual,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/contractual.

Source: contractual on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.