Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Belonging to or occurring in the same period of time: Existing or happening at the same time as another person, event, or thing.
   • Belonging to the present time; modern: Characteristic of the current era or period in history.

2. Noun:

   • A person or thing living or existing at the same time as another: Someone who is roughly the same age as another or who lives during the same historical period.

Examples of Usage

• Adjective:

  • The composer Salieri was contemporary with Mozart. (Both lived and worked in the same historical period.)
  • The museum features both classical and contemporary art. (It features art from the present time/modern era.)
  • A rise in interest rates is often contemporary with an increase in inflation. (These two economic events frequently occur during the same period.)

• Noun:

  • She was admired by her contemporaries for her innovative work. (She was admired by people who lived and worked at the same time she did.)
  • He is considered one of the greatest writers of his generation and his contemporaries. (He is considered great among people of his own time.)

Advanced Usage

• "Contemporary of": Used to specify the person or era something is compared with in time.

  • He was a contemporary of Charles Dickens. (He lived during the same lifetime as Charles Dickens.)

• In academic writing, "contemporary" as an adjective can describe sources or accounts from the period being studied, as opposed to later analyses.

  • Historians rely on contemporary documents to understand the event. (They rely on documents written at the time the event happened.)

Variants and Related Words

• Contemporaneous (adj): Existing or occurring at the same time. (Often used for events rather than people).
  • The invention was contemporaneous with major social changes.
• Contemporary art/music/dance: Refers specifically to art produced in the late 20th century and the 21st century.
• Modern-day (adj): Synonym for the "present time" sense of contemporary.
  • the role of computers in modern-day medicine.

Synonyms

• Adjective (same period): Coexisting, concurrent, contemporaneous, synchronous.
• Adjective (modern): Current, present-day, modern, up-to-date.
• Noun: Peer, coeval.

Antonyms

• Adjective (same period): Earlier, later, successive.
• Adjective (modern): Ancient, old-fashioned, historical, archaic.
• Noun: Predecessor, successor.

Common Phrases and Collocations

• Contemporary society/world: The society of the present time.
  • This is a major issue in contemporary society.
• Contemporary issues/problems: Problems facing the world today.
• A contemporary account/report: A description written at the time an event happened.
• Work is contemporary with...: Used to state that creative work was produced during the same period as something else.
  • This painting is contemporary with the early works of Picasso.

Adjective

1. occurring in the same period of time
   • a rise in interest rates is often contemporaneous with an increase in inflation
   • the composer Salieri was contemporary with Mozart
2. belonging to the present time
   • contemporary leaders
3. characteristic of the present
   • contemporary trends in design
   • the role of computers in modern-day medicine

Noun

1. a person of nearly the same age as another