coeval 1 of 2

coeval

2 of 2

noun

as in contemporary
a person who lives at the same time or is about the same age as another somewhat surprisingly, Saint Patrick and Attila the Hun were coevals

Synonyms & Similar Words

Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective coeval differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of coeval are coincident, contemporaneous, contemporary, simultaneous, and synchronous. While all these words mean "existing or occurring at the same time," coeval refers usually to periods, ages, eras, eons.

two stars thought to be coeval

In what contexts can coincident take the place of coeval?

While the synonyms coincident and coeval are close in meaning, 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

When can contemporaneous be used instead of coeval?

The synonyms contemporaneous and coeval are sometimes interchangeable, but contemporaneous is more often applied to events than to people.

contemporaneous accounts of the kidnapping

When could contemporary be used to replace coeval?

The meanings of contemporary and coeval largely overlap; however, contemporary is likely to apply to people and what relates to them.

Abraham Lincoln was contemporary with Charles Darwin

When would simultaneous be a good substitute for coeval?

In some situations, the words simultaneous and coeval are roughly equivalent. However, simultaneous implies correspondence in a moment of time.

the two shots were simultaneous

Where would synchronous be a reasonable alternative to coeval?

The words synchronous and coeval can be used in similar contexts, but synchronous implies exact correspondence in time and especially in periodic intervals.

synchronous timepieces

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of coeval
Adjective
Their personalities and their pain are made almost exactly coeval, with little telling slippage between. Vinson Cunningham, The New Yorker, 20 Nov. 2023 Her letters to Bradley demonstrate that the idea was coeval with her wish to be a poet and her discovery of romantic feeling for girls, and that it was fully formed as early as her adolescence. Langdon Hammer, The New York Review of Books, 25 Feb. 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for coeval
Adjective
  • Only a small fraction of concurrent credit students in school districts take at least 29 credit hours.
    Edward McKinnon, Arkansas Online, 4 Sep. 2025
  • However, in cases where someone was convicted of two or more crimes and served concurrent or uninterrupted consecutive prison terms, those only count as a single conviction under the persistent felony offender law.
    Quinlan Bentley, The Enquirer, 3 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • Religious orders, political dignitaries, and even ordinary citizens, those at the top of the social ladder, wanted to make the most of their wealth and show their prestige by supporting the art of their contemporaries.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 27 Aug. 2025
  • Like his contemporaries, Meyers often pokes fun at the ongoing actions of the president and his administration on Late Night.
    Emlyn Travis Updated, EW.com, 27 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • The modules are supplemented with synchronous discussions led by world-class educators who provide Masterclasses across diverse disciplines.
    Bryan Penprase, Forbes.com, 31 Aug. 2025
  • At that time, two different brain networks generate slow, synchronous electrical waves known as slow waves that connect visual stimuli with brain regions required for navigation.
    Maria Mocerino, Interesting Engineering, 24 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • For his last runway collection, unveiled in September, Michele constructed a parallel universe of side-by-side shows separated by a wall that when lifted revealed twins in identical looks in synchronic stride.
    Colleen Barry, Fortune, 24 Nov. 2022
  • With a lockable synchronic-tilt mechanism and special Z-Shape design, the Kaiser 2 can accommodate a weight up to 180kg, quite a bit more than normal mechanisms on office chairs and the back can be reclined to an angle of 160 degrees which can be locked when not in rocking mode.
    Mark Sparrow, Forbes, 11 Oct. 2021
Adjective
  • The timing of these changes were roughly coincident with clarification of Information Blocking rules and Epic’s introduction of its own competing product.
    Seth Joseph, Forbes, 26 Feb. 2024
  • The tendency of policymakers to date has been to view the harms from internet platforms not as systemic, but as a series of coincident issues.
    Roger McNamee, Wired, 24 July 2021
Adjective
  • Business battles, thus, are only partially about increasing valuations, sales or profit margins, but also about acting as contemporaneous champions of one family and nation.
    Radu Magdin, Forbes.com, 14 Aug. 2025
  • While working on season one, Carrafa learned that most historical knowledge of the era’s dances comes from contemporaneous dancing manuals.
    Zoe Papelis, Vulture, 10 Aug. 2025

Browse Nearby Words

Podcast

Cite this Entry

“Coeval.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/coeval. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!