Contoured

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Having a design that is shaped to fit a specific outline or body shape
2. Formed or designed with a smoothly curved surface that follows a particular shape or outline
3. Created to display an outline that gently bends to match the shape of an object or body

Etymology: "Contoured" is the past participle of "contour," which English borrowed from French "contour," itself built from "contourner," meaning "to go around" or "to turn round." The French verb combines "con-," an intensifying or together-prefix, with "tour," meaning "turn" or "circuit," the same root that gives English "tour" and "turn" through Latin "tornare," to turn on a lathe. So at its heart, a contour is the line you trace when you go around something. That turning sense is why the word eventually came to describe outlines. A contour is the boundary that shapes a thing as your eye or hand follows its edge, whether a coastline, a hill's profile, or the curve of a human figure. When a garment or piece of furniture is described as contoured, its form has been made to follow those curving lines, so that it sits snugly against the body or the object it serves.

Synonyms: shaped, outlined, defined, sculpted, formed

Antonyms: flat, plain, level, smooth, unshaped