compact
1 Americanadjective
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joined or packed together; closely and firmly united; dense; solid.
compact soil.
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arranged within a relatively small space.
a compact shopping center;
a compact kitchen.
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designed to be small in size and economical in operation.
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solidly or firmly built.
the compact body of a lightweight wrestler.
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expressed concisely; pithy; terse; not diffuse.
a compact review of the week's news.
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composed or made (usually followed byof ).
a book compact of form and content.
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Mathematics. Also (of a set) having the property that in any collection of open sets whose union contains the given set there exists a finite number of open sets whose union contains the given set; having the property that every open cover has a finite subcover.
verb (used with object)
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to join or pack closely together; consolidate; condense.
- Synonyms:
- compress
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to make firm or stable.
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to form or make by close union or conjunction; make up or compose.
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Metallurgy. to compress (metallic or metallic and nonmetallic powders) in a die to be sintered.
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to crush into compact form for convenient disposal or for storage until disposal.
to compact rubbish.
noun
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a small case containing a mirror, face powder, a puff, and sometimes rouge.
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Also called compact car. an automobile that is smaller than an intermediate but larger than a subcompact and generally has a combined passenger and luggage volume of 100–110 cu. ft. (2.8–3.1 m3 ).
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Metallurgy. (in powder metallurgy) an object to be sintered formed of metallic or of metallic and nonmetallic powders compressed in a die.
noun
adjective
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closely packed together; dense
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neatly fitted into a restricted space
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concise; brief
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well constructed; solid; firm
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(foll by of) composed or made up (of)
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denoting a tabloid-sized version of a newspaper that has traditionally been published in broadsheet form
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logic (of a relation) having the property that for any pair of elements such that a is related to b, there is some element c such that a is related to c and c to b, as less than on the rational numbers
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(of a car) small and economical
verb
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to pack or join closely together; compress; condense
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(foll by of) to create or form by pressing together
sediment compacted of three types of clay
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metallurgy to compress (a metal powder) to form a stable product suitable for sintering
noun
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a small flat case containing a mirror, face powder, etc, designed to be carried in a woman's handbag
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a comparatively small and economical car
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metallurgy a mass of metal prepared for sintering by cold-pressing a metal powder
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a tabloid-sized version of a newspaper that has traditionally been publis hed in broadsheet form
noun
Synonym Usage
See agreement.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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compactednessnoun
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compacternoun
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compactionnoun
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compactnessnoun
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uncompactedadjective
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well-compactedadjective
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compactedlyadverb
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compactlyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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compactsimple
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compactssimple
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have compactedperfect
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has compactedperfect
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am compactingprogressive
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are compactingprogressive
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is compactingprogressive
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have been compactingperfect progressive
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has been compactingperfect progressive
Past
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compactedsimple
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had compactedperfect
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was compactingprogressive
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were compactingprogressive
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had been compactingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of compact1
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin compāctus (past participle of compingere “to shut away, put away, bind together”), equivalent to com- prefix + pag-, stem of pangere “to fix, arrange” + -tus past participle suffix; see com-; cf. peace; pact, compact 2 )
Origin of compact2
First recorded in 1550–60; from Latin compactum, compectum, noun use of neuter of compactus (past participle of compacīscī “to make an agreement”), equivalent to com- prefix + pac- (stem of pacīscī “to secure by negotiation” + -tus past participle ending); see com-; cf. compact 1, pact, peace
Explanation
A compact is a signed written agreement that binds you to do what you've promised. It also refers to something small or closely grouped together, like the row of compact rental cars you see when you wanted a van. As a verb, compact means "to compress or squeeze together," like how the garbage truck compacts your bags of trash. Compact, the adjective, describes something that is tightly packed together, like your luggage that is so compact it fits in the overhead compartment. Compact can also describe a brief summary, like a compact explanation of how the universe began that lasted only 10 minutes!
Vocabulary lists containing compact
com-, con-
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"The Bet" by Anton Chekhov
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Talk Like Shakespeare Day, List 2
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Built using proven hardware, the instrument relies on a compact silicon detector to measure the energy carried by incoming space radiation.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 14, 2026
Upon awarding the prize, a member of the Nobel committee likened the technology’s ability to store enormous amounts of stuff in seemingly compact spaces to Hermione Granger’s enchanted handbag in the Harry Potter series.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026
Marshall Islands achieved independence in 1986, and continues to have a defence compact with the United States that allows missile tests on its territory.
From Barron's ● Jul. 9, 2026
Six people reveal what’s in their compact bags of calming tools, including fidget toys, sour candies and a rosary.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
Riddick was a compact ball of nervous energy wrapped in a suit.
From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson
I hope we’ll move beyond defensiveness and talk of federal compacts and instead take action.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 25, 2026
By design, the details of how "freedom cities" would be established are laden with legalese like "federal enclaves with special economic and jurisdictional zones" or "interstate compacts."
From Salon ● Mar. 17, 2025
“The social compacts that the people have sown in them are very ingrained.”
From Seattle Times ● May 28, 2024
For years, American drivers have been gravitating toward sport utility vehicles and away from sedans, compacts and hatchbacks.
From New York Times ● May 8, 2024
Kaz had told her to keep an eye out for women using similarly made mirrored compacts at the Crow Club.
From "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo
Even the design of farm machinery was considered — and tractors were fitted with wider tires to ensure that soil was less compacted when driven over.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026
Firn is partially compacted granular snow found near the upper portions of glaciers.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 12, 2026
It was always going to be difficult for the second period to match the high-octane tempo of the first, and instead the decisive moments, both mad and magnificent, were compacted into the final few minutes.
From BBC ● Apr. 15, 2026
These layers of ice, compacted over centuries, perhaps millennia, form an archive of climate indicators, yielding data on past snowfall, temperatures, atmosphere and dust.
From Barron's ● Oct. 13, 2025
The problem was that when the dirt was in the ground, it was compacted.
From "Holes" by Louis Sachar
“We need to stop the overdraft of compacting aquifers,” Knight and Lees wrote, suggesting that efforts be strategically “targeted to the deeper parts of the aquifer system.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 25, 2024
And because the ice is stable, the thick annual layers can accumulate for centuries, compacting into ice.
From Science Magazine ● Apr. 18, 2024
Deep in Antarctica’s frigid interior, fluffy, air-filled snow accumulates layer by layer, compacting into slabs of ice over millennia.
From Scientific American ● Feb. 9, 2023
Earlier this year, crews finished backfilling and compacting the area around the K East reactor with about 34,000 cubic yards of sand and gravel to level the site.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 28, 2022
After picking for two long hours, Roberto helped Mama make more room in her sack by lifting it upright and shaking it several times up and down, compacting the cotton to the bottom.
From "The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child" by Francisco Jiménez
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.