contemporize

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verb

To bring up to date; often specifically to set a historical narrative in a modern context

Scrabble 27

Meanings

verbcontemporize (third-person singular simple present contemporizes, present participle contemporizing, simple past and past participle contemporized)

present singular third person contemporizes · participle present contemporizing · participle past contemporized · past contemporized · alternative contemporise

  1. To bring up to date; often specifically to set a historical narrative in a modern context

    In the few instances where the initial description is couched in the past tense, immediate reversal occurs and the scene is contemporized by the listener.

    1948, Gordon Allport, Leo Postman, The Psychology of Rumor, page 91
  2. businessTo modify, repackage, or present a well-known or traditional product or brand in a way that appeals to contemporary consumers.

    Oscar Mayer tapped him to try to find some way to reposition bologna and other troubled meats that were declining in popularity and sales...when Drane began working on the project, his orders were to “figure out how to contemporize what we’ve got.”

    2013, Michael Moss, “The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food”, in The New York Times Magazine

Synonyms & antonyms

verbhappen at the same time

verbarrange or represent events so that they co-occur

Also see

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

Translations

Spanish contemporizar
  • contemporizarTranslations
Cite this entry
APA

contemporize. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/contemporize

MLA

“contemporize.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/contemporize. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “contemporize,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/contemporize.

Source: contemporize on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.