contemporary

comparative more contemporary · superlative most contemporary

1. From the same time period, coexistent in time; contemporaneous.

   A neighb'ring Wood born with himself he sees, / And loves his old contemporary trees.

   a. 1667, Abraham Cowley, Claudian's Old Man of Verona^(https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Essays_(Cowley)/The_Dangers_of_an_Honest_Man_in_much_Company#Section23)

   1 more example

   As this King [Henry VIII] vvas contemporary vvith the greateſt Monarchs of Europe, viz. the Emperor, the Kings of Spain and France, ſo he vvas engaged in many VVars, and in divers Leagues and Pacifications vvith them or either of them; for the better conſulting the Peace of Mankind.

   1721, John Strype, “A Notable Book Came Forth, Called, ’’A Supplication of the Poor Commons to the King’’; Shewing the Late State of the Kingdom. […]”, in Ecclesiastical Memorials; Relating Chiefly to Religion, and the Reformation of It: Shewing the Various Emergencies of the Church of England, under King Henry the Eighth. […], volume I, London: […] John Wyat, […], →OCLC, page 407

   Synonyms: coetaneous, coeval, contemporaneous · Antonyms: anachronistic

2. Modern, of the present age (shorthand for ‘contemporary with the present’).

   We live our lives in three dimensions for our threescore and ten allotted years. Yet every branch of contemporary science, from statistics to cosmology, alludes to processes that operate on scales outside of human experience: the millisecond and the nanometer, the eon and the light-year.

   2012 January 28, Robert L. Dorit, “Rereading Darwin”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 1, archived from the original on 14 Nov 2012, page 23

   1 more example

   Men In Black 3 finagles its way out of this predicament by literally resetting the clock with a time-travel premise that makes Will Smith both a contemporary intergalactic cop in the late 1960s and a stranger to Josh Brolin, who plays the younger version of Smith’s stone-faced future partner, Tommy Lee Jones.

   2012 May 24, Nathan Rabin, “Film: Reviews: Men In Black 3”, in The Onion AV Club, archived from the original on 14 Jun 2012

   Synonyms: current, modern, current, hodiern, modern, de nos jours, present, present-day · Antonyms: archaic, coming

plural contemporaries

1. Someone or something belonging to the same time period (as someone or something else)

   Cervantes was a contemporary of Shakespeare.

   4 more examples

   The early mammals inherited the earth by surviving their saurian contemporaries.

   Life is predicated by the decisions and choices we make – and, earlier this year, the personal fused with the professional again as Mata reached the landmark moment when he knew he had to try to harness football’s power for the benefit of people less fortunate than him and his contemporaries.

   2018 January 1, Donald McRae, “The Guardian footballer of the year 2017: Juan Mata”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 02 Feb 2018

   More than most of her contemporaries on “LeftTube,” [Contrapoints] has a style; her editorial signature is an unmistakably ornate flourish.

   2018 August 24, Katherine Cross, “The Oscar Wilde of YouTube fights the alt-right with decadence and seduction”, in The Verge (news), Vox, archived from the original on 11 Feb 2023

   Thinking more metaphorically, his American contemporary James Russell Lowell wrote: “It is not the insurrections of ignorance that are dangerous, but the revolts of intelligence.” Had he lived to the year 2021, he might have changed his mind.

   2021 January 13, Steven Poole, “'Insurrection': how an old word for an old thing was Trumped”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 20 Jan 2021

2. Something existing at the same time.
   1. datedA rival newspaper or magazine.

      Annexation therefore was inevitable; but (as I have said above) it was not necessarily of prime importance in our national policy, and there has been no need to exaggerate—as I fear many of our contemporaries have exaggerated— […]

      1900, The Speaker, the Liberal Review, volume 2, page 621