synchronous
adjective
Simple meaning
Occurring or existing at the same time or having the same period or phase.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
singkruhnuhsSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈsɪŋkɹənəs
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
Occurring or existing at the same time or having the same period or phase
“Recovery was synchronous with therapy"- Jour.A.M.A.”
At the same time, at the same frequency.
computingof communication
Single-threaded; blocking; occurring in the same thread as other computations, thereby preventing those computations from resuming until the communication is complete.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Occurring or existing at the same time or having the same period or phase
Used this way, synchronous is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“Recovery was synchronous with therapy"- Jour.A.M.A.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Usage note
It most often appears in the pattern “synchronous with …”, which is worth copying when you use it.
Nearby words
- concurrent , a specialist term, precise but narrower
- parallel , a specialist term, precise but narrower
Natural pattern: synchronous with …
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use synchronous
- “Recovery was synchronous with therapy"- Jour.A.M.A.”adjective
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Similar Words, What’s the Difference?
Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.
Occurring or existing at the same time or having the same period or phase.
Existing or created in the same period of time.
Happening or existing at the same time.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
Make synchronous and adjust in time or manner.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Operations that are initiated predictably by a clock.
Electrical converter consisting of a synchronous machine that converts alternating to direct current or vice versa.
Electric motor in which the speed of rotation is proportional to the frequency of the A.C. power.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: occurring or existing at the same time
Antonyms
Sense: occurring or existing at the same time
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.