List of 426 Sets of Synonyms - How they Differ - Total of 2307 Words - 85

SYNONYMS: contemporary, contemporaneous, simultaneous, synchronous, concurrent, coincident, concomitant.
These adjectives mean existing or occurring at the same time.

Contemporary is used more often of persons, contemporaneous of events and facts: The composer Salieri had the misfortune of being contemporary with Mozart. A rise in interest rates is often contemporaneous with an increase in inflation. Only contemporary has the sense "modern" or "present-day": I heard a concert of contemporary music.
Simultaneous more narrowly specifies occurrence of events at the same time: Opponents of nuclear power tried to organize simultaneous demonstrations.
Synchronous refers to correspondence of events in time over a generally short period: The animal uttered a series of low cries that seemed synchronous with its heartbeat.
Concurrent implies parallelism in character or length of time: The mass murderer was given three concurrent life sentences.
Coincident applies to events occurring at the same time without implying a relationship between them: The recovery was coincident with the new treatment.
Concomitant refers to coincidence in time of events so clearly related that one seems attendant on the other: He is an adherent of the theories of Sigmund Freud and had a concomitant belief in the efficacy of psychoanalysis