contemporary

Belonging to the present time or using the styles and ideas of today.

• She collects contemporary art.
• The course explores contemporary political issues.
• His house combines old furniture with contemporary design.

Similar words: modern, present-day, current

Opposites: old-fashioned

Common phrases: contemporary art, contemporary music, contemporary society

Existing or happening at the same time as someone or something else.

• We studied contemporary accounts of the battle.
• The letters are contemporary with the events they describe.
• No contemporary records of her childhood survive.

How to use it: contemporary with someone/something (These buildings are contemporary with the castle.)

Similar words: contemporaneous

Common phrases: contemporary with something, contemporary accounts, contemporary sources

A person who lives or lived at the same time as another person.

• She was a contemporary of my grandfather.
• His contemporaries admired his work.
• The poet outlived most of her contemporaries.

How to use it: a contemporary of someone (The painter was a contemporary of Mozart.)

Common phrases: a contemporary of, someone’s contemporary, younger contemporary