as in to redesign
to adapt to modern needs, taste, or usage
the new owners of the old-line French restaurant plan to contemporize the menu and make the place seem less intimidating
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of contemporize
The delight in contemporizing the antiquated past may feel akin to the Pope in cassocks and a White Sox baseball cap, or a good medieval meme.
—
Jacqui Palumbo, CNN Money, 3 Feb. 2026
Movado is mining its archives to revisit and contemporize iconic Art Deco styles for the 21st century consumer.
—Fairchild Studio, Footwear News, 14 Nov. 2025
Anderson has contemporized the timeline, situating us in our dismayingly recognizable era of fascist creep and following a sadly less recognizable underground effort to stop it.
—Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 17 Sep. 2025
Three trans opera singers refine their unique vocal talents and contemporize the history of gender-fluid performances in the art form.
TO YOUR HANDS: DIR Ana Mouyis.
—Matthew Carey, Deadline, 7 May 2025
The struggling restaurant’s South Asian owner Ananya (Mahira Kakkar) clings to her and her late husband’s original dream for the place while her forward-thinking Thai-American cook, Jacob (Tommy Bo), urges her to contemporize the menu of traditional dishes and the House of India vibe.
—David L. Coddon, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 May 2025
At the same time, the mill is celebrating denim’s heritage with a collaboration that contemporizes classic textiles.
—Sj Studio, Sourcing Journal, 14 Apr. 2025
Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla, the beloved designer duo synonymous with reviving and contemporizing embroidery techniques, will also mark their presence at the Vogue Wedding Atelier.
—Sonakshi Sharma, Vogue, 7 Apr. 2025
Lydia Cornett & Brit Fryer; 2024; USA; 18 min
Three trans opera singers refine their unique vocal talents and contemporize the history of gender-fluid
performances in the art form.
—Addie Morfoot, Variety, 5 Feb. 2025
Jacqui Palumbo, CNN Money, 3 Feb. 2026
Movado is mining its archives to revisit and contemporize iconic Art Deco styles for the 21st century consumer.
—Fairchild Studio, Footwear News, 14 Nov. 2025
Anderson has contemporized the timeline, situating us in our dismayingly recognizable era of fascist creep and following a sadly less recognizable underground effort to stop it.
—Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 17 Sep. 2025
Three trans opera singers refine their unique vocal talents and contemporize the history of gender-fluid performances in the art form.
TO YOUR HANDS: DIR Ana Mouyis.
—Matthew Carey, Deadline, 7 May 2025
The struggling restaurant’s South Asian owner Ananya (Mahira Kakkar) clings to her and her late husband’s original dream for the place while her forward-thinking Thai-American cook, Jacob (Tommy Bo), urges her to contemporize the menu of traditional dishes and the House of India vibe.
—David L. Coddon, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 May 2025
At the same time, the mill is celebrating denim’s heritage with a collaboration that contemporizes classic textiles.
—Sj Studio, Sourcing Journal, 14 Apr. 2025
Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla, the beloved designer duo synonymous with reviving and contemporizing embroidery techniques, will also mark their presence at the Vogue Wedding Atelier.
—Sonakshi Sharma, Vogue, 7 Apr. 2025
Lydia Cornett & Brit Fryer; 2024; USA; 18 min
Three trans opera singers refine their unique vocal talents and contemporize the history of gender-fluid
performances in the art form.
—Addie Morfoot, Variety, 5 Feb. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for contemporize
Verb
-
Their goal was to enable faster decision-making without completely redesigning existing camera systems.—
Sujita Sinha,
Interesting Engineering,
11 Feb. 2026
-
As new abilities improve, Fauna can add them through software updates rather than redesigning the hardware.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
10 Feb. 2026
Verb
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In a nation that’s largely overstored, there’s little room left to build new shopping centers, so mall owners have been focusing on modernizing existing properties.—
David Moin,
Footwear News,
11 Feb. 2026
-
Russia has been seen modernizing its nuclear facilities, and in recent years, China has expanded its main test site by digging new tunnels.—
Geoff Brumfiel,
NPR,
11 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
This story was updated to add new information.—
Edward Segarra,
USA Today,
10 Feb. 2026
-
This is a developing story and will be updated.—
Max Foster,
CNN Money,
9 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Finally, cut property taxes, streamline regulation, and keep Texas affordable so families can stay and businesses keep choosing Texas.—
Eleanor Dearman,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
14 Feb. 2026
-
Emily Brontë’s 1847 novel already established a Gothic world in which the trauma is as loud as the wind on the moors, and Emerald Fennell’s adaptation excises major portions of the book to streamline that atmospheric darkness and ultimate tragedy.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
13 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
The show, in exaggerating adolescence—in remaking that consequential phase as a fantasy and a melodrama—also managed to honor it.—
Megan Garber,
The Atlantic,
12 Feb. 2026
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That echoes recommendations laid out in the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025, a sweeping conservative plan to remake American society that includes limiting regulation of climate pollution.—
Camila Domonoske,
NPR,
11 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Contemporize.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/contemporize. Accessed 17 Feb. 2026.
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