5 syllables: con, tem, po, ra, ries. Stress on tem.
/kəˈntɛmpɚˌɛɹiz/
contemporaries is pronounced /kəˈntɛmpɚˌɛɹiz/. It has five syllables (con-tem-po-ra-ries), with the stress on "tem". Contemporaries refers to people living at the same time as someone else, especially peers or colleagues within the same era. It can also describe works or events from the same period. The term often appears in formal or academic writing when comparing individuals or trends across a specific time frame.
Say it backContemporaries refers to people living at the same time as someone else, especially peers or colleagues within the same era. It can also describe works or events from the same period. The term often appears in formal or academic writing when comparing individuals or trends across a specific time frame.
"The debate divided the contemporaries who remembered the event from those who studied it as historians."
"She admired her contemporaries for their bold ideas and entrepreneurial spirit."
"In his essay, he compared the politics of his contemporaries to those of previous generations."
Pronounce as /ˌkɒn.tɛm.pəˈreɪ.tiz/ in US/UK. Primary stress on the fourth syllable: con-tem-po-RAH-teez with final -ries pronounced as /ɪz/. Mouth positions: start with a light k-like onset in /k/, short /ɒ/ or /ɒ/ as in 'cot', then /n/; /t/ is a clear alveolar stop; /ɛm/ uses /ɛ/; /pə/ is a schwa followed by /r/; /ˈreɪ/ is a strong /eɪ/ diphthong; /tiz/ ends with /ɪz/. Audio reference: listen to a native speaker in Pronounce or YouGlish for natural flow.
Common errors: (1) Stress misplacement—say con-tem-PO-ra-ries rather than the necessary antepenultimate stress on -RA-, (2) vowel confusion in /ɒ/ vs /ɑ/ in cot-like vowel; (3) dropping or mispronouncing the /r/ in non-rhotic accents. Correction: keep the /ˈreɪ/ strong, ensure /ə/ is a true schwa in /pə/ and maintain the /r/ before /i/ in rhotic accents. Practice with minimal pairs like 'contemporary' vs 'contemporaries' to hear the extra syllables and ensure final /z/ or /s/ is voiced appropriately.
In US English, /ˌkɒn.tɛm.pəˈreɪ.tiz/ with rhotic /r/ and clear /ɪ/ in final syllable. UK English shares similar syllable structure but may have a slightly shorter /ɒ/ and less aggressive rhoticity in non-rhotic dialects; final /tiz/ can sound closer to /tɪz/ in some regions. Australian English tends toward a flatter /ɒ/ and a more open /ɪ/ in final syllable; /r/ is typically non-rhotic. Overall, pay attention to rhoticity and vowel quality differences when making cross-dialect comparisons.
Difficult because it is multi-syllabic with three open vowels and a final voiced nasal + syllabic ending; the main challenge is the stressed /ˈreɪ/ portion and subtle /t/ and /z/ articulation as the word moves quickly. The sequence /kɒn.tɛm.pəˈreɪ.tiz/ requires precise timing, especially maintaining the schwa /ə/ before /r/ and the /z/ at the end without devoicing. Practice slowly, then increase speed while keeping the segments distinct.
A distinctive feature is the multi-syllable rhythm that emphasizes the fourth syllable (po-RA-ry), where the /ˈreɪ/ is the peak vowel, followed by a syllabic -ries ending with /ɪz/. The tricky part is maintaining the transition from /pə/ (unstressed) to /ˈreɪ/ and then to /tiz/ without gliding or merging vowels too early. Ensure the /r/ is pronounced in rhotic accents and that the -aries suffix carries a light but audible /ɪz/ at the end.
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Contemporaries comes from the Latin contemporarius, from con- ’together’ + tempus ’time,’ ultimately from the Latin tempus. The modern English noun contemporaries is formed by combining contemporarius with the English plural suffix -es. The root tempus gave us terms like temporary, tempo, and temporize; contemporarius originally meant ‘of the same time,’ i.e., living in the same period. The first known uses extend to early modern English scholarship, where contemporaries were discussed in contrast to older generations. Through centuries of scholarly debate in history, literature, and sociology, contemporaries became a standard term to describe people sharing the same era, often with the nuance of peerage or parallel experience. The evolution maintains the sense of shared temporal context while expanding to refer to groups or categories of people, settings, or works produced within the same period, typically used in formal or critical discourse. In contemporary use, the word retains its precise sense of “of the same time” and a nuance of peer equivalence, frequently appearing in academic journalism, literary analysis, and historical comparison.
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Words that rhyme with "contemporaries"
-ies sounds
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