contemporary
Use in a sentence
pəˌrɛr adjective
1.
existing, occurring, or living at the same time; belonging to the same time: Newton's discovery of the calculus was contemporary with that of Leibniz.
2.
of about the same age or date: a Georgian table with a contemporary wig stand.
3.
of the present time; modern: a lecture on the contemporary novel.
noun
4.
a person belonging to the same time or period with another or others.
5.
a person of the same age as another.
00:10
Contemporary
is always a great word to know.
So is contemptible. Does it mean:
| deserving of disdain |
| to own or admit as true: |
Related forms
con·tem·po·rar·i·ly, adverb
con·tem·po·rar·i·ness, noun
non·con·tem·po·rar·y, adjective, noun, plural non·con·tem·po·rar·ies.
post·con·tem·po·rar·y, adjective
ul·tra·con·tem·po·rar·y, adjective, noun, plural ul·tra·con·tem·po·rar·ies.
Synonyms
1. coexistent, concurrent, simultaneous. Contemporary, contemporaneous, coeval, coincident all mean happening or existing at the same time. Contemporary often refers to persons or their acts or achievements: Hemingway and Fitzgerald, though contemporary, shared few values. Contemporaneous is applied chiefly to events: the rise of industrialism, contemporaneous with the spread of steam power. Coeval refers either to very long periods of time—an era or an eon—or to remote or long ago times: coeval stars, shining for millenia with equal brilliance; coeval with the dawning of civilization. Coincident means occurring at the same time but without causal or other relationships: prohibition, coincident with the beginning of the 1920s.
1. coexistent, concurrent, simultaneous. Contemporary, contemporaneous, coeval, coincident all mean happening or existing at the same time. Contemporary often refers to persons or their acts or achievements: Hemingway and Fitzgerald, though contemporary, shared few values. Contemporaneous is applied chiefly to events: the rise of industrialism, contemporaneous with the spread of steam power. Coeval refers either to very long periods of time—an era or an eon—or to remote or long ago times: coeval stars, shining for millenia with equal brilliance; coeval with the dawning of civilization. Coincident means occurring at the same time but without causal or other relationships: prohibition, coincident with the beginning of the 1920s.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
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Link To contemporary
Collins
World English Dictionary
contemporary (kənˈtɛmprərɪ) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —adj | |
| 1. | belonging to the same age; living or occurring in the same period of time |
| 2. | existing or occurring at the present time |
| 3. | conforming to modern or current ideas in style, fashion, design, etc |
| 4. | having approximately the same age as one another |
| —n , -raries | |
| 5. | a person living at the same time or of approximately the same age as another |
| 6. | something that is contemporary |
| 7. | journalism a rival newspaper |
| [C17: from Medieval Latin contemporārius, from Latin com- together + temporārius relating to time, from tempus time] | |
| usage Since contemporary can mean either of the same period or of the present period, it is best to avoid this word where ambiguity might arise, as in a production of Othello in contemporary dress. Modern dress or Elizabethan dress should be used in this example to avoid ambiguity | |
| con'temporarily | |
| —adv | |
| con'temporariness | |
| —n | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
contemporary
1630s, from M.L. contemporarius, from L. con- "with" + temporarius "of time," from tempus "time" (see temper). Meaning "modern, characteristic of the present" is from 1866. Noun sense of "one who lives at the same time as another" is from 1630s, replacing native time-fellow (1570s).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Example sentences
Contemporary curricula strongly emphasize the study of tropical rainforests.
Contemporary skateboards and skateboard art will be on display.
To the officer who arrested him, the ancient story suddenly sounded dangerously contemporary.
The matter is fatal to all contemporary theoretical physics.
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