Synonyms of contemporaneous

contemporaneous

adjective

kən-ˌtem-pə-ˈrā-nē-əs 

as in concurrent

existing or occurring at the same period of time

contemporaneous accounts of the battle from officers on both sides

Synonyms & Similar Words

• concurrent
• synchronous
• synchronic
• coincident
• contemporary
• simultaneous
• coincidental
• coeval
• coterminous
• accompanying
• coetaneous
• coextensive
• concomitant
• incident
• coexistent
• coexisting
• attending
• attendant

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• asynchronous
• nonsynchronous
• nonsimultaneous
• noncontemporary

Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective contemporaneous differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of contemporaneous are coeval, coincident, contemporary, simultaneous, and synchronous. While all these words mean "existing or occurring at the same time," contemporaneous is more often applied to events than to people.

contemporaneous accounts of the kidnapping

When is coeval a more appropriate choice than contemporaneous?

While in some cases nearly identical to contemporaneous, coeval refers usually to periods, ages, eras, eons.

two stars thought to be coeval

When can coincident be used instead of contemporaneous?

In some situations, the words coincident and contemporaneous are roughly equivalent. However, coincident is applied to events and may be used in order to avoid implication of causal relationship.

the end of World War II was coincident with a great vintage year

Where would contemporary be a reasonable alternative to contemporaneous?

Although the words contemporary and contemporaneous have much in common, contemporary is likely to apply to people and what relates to them.

Abraham Lincoln was contemporary with Charles Darwin

When is it sensible to use simultaneous instead of contemporaneous?

The meanings of simultaneous and contemporaneous largely overlap; however, simultaneous implies correspondence in a moment of time.

the two shots were simultaneous

When would synchronous be a good substitute for contemporaneous?

The words synchronous and contemporaneous are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, synchronous implies exact correspondence in time and especially in periodic intervals.

synchronous timepieces

Examples of contemporaneous in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The wavy, sinuous forms that appear in O’Keeffe’s contemporaneous abstractions are confined only to the sky here, where rows of clouds threaten to cover the moon. —Alex Greenberger, ARTnews.com, 12 Sep. 2024

In a statistical analysis of nearly two million State Department cables sent in the 1970s, for instance, one recent study demonstrated that U.S. diplomats were often bad at estimating the historical importance of contemporaneous events. —J. Peter Scoblic, Foreign Affairs, 13 Oct. 2020

Who knows what historical factors or contemporaneous living conditions have conspired to set so many brilliant minds of that relatively small country to the task of conjuring magical realms? —Kathryn Schulz, The New Yorker, 9 Sep. 2024

Here, his body of writing, published as well as unpublished, historical as well as contemporaneous, stands out for its cogency, intricacy, and fluency. —Fredrik Logevall, Foreign Affairs, 20 Dec. 2022