coincident

American  

[koh-in-si-duhnt] / koʊˈɪn sɪ dənt /

adjective

1. happening at the same time.

   Synonyms:

   synchronous, simultaneous

2. coinciding; occupying the same place or position.

3. exactly corresponding.

4. in exact agreement (usually followed bywith ).

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coincident British  

/ kəʊˈɪnsɪdənt /

adjective

1. having the same position in space or time

2. in exact agreement; consonant

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Related Words

See contemporary.

Other Word Forms

• noncoincident adjective
• precoincident adjective
• precoincidently adverb
• supercoincident adjective
• supercoincidently adverb
• uncoincident adjective
• uncoincidently adverb

Etymology

Origin of coincident

1555–65; < Medieval Latin coincident- (stem of coincidēns ) present participle of coincidere to coincide; see -ent

Explanation

Coincident describes any group of people, moments, or ideas that seem to work together so perfectly that it’s spooky or beautiful, like it’s part of a big logical plan. Coincident is a mix of the prefix co- (meaning “together” and “similar”) and an incident, which means "a noteworthy event." So when you have two similar noteworthy events that happen together, they are coincident with one other. Professional dancers have dance moves coincident with one another. If you immediately know the answer to a question your teacher asks, your knowledge is coincident with the lessons being taught. Congrats, smarty pants.

Example Sentences

Whether you are thinking about the energy shocks of the 1970s or the coal shocks of the early 19th century, one typically observed a confluence of coincident shocks.

From Barron's • Apr. 3, 2026

In part, it’s a time capsule, recording the rise in the popularity of soul food, especially in northern cities, that was coincident with the Second Great Migration happening during this period.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 19, 2025

Another way of putting this statistical result is that margin debt is an excellent coincident indicator of the stock market.

From MarketWatch • Oct. 24, 2025

"In the case of a lot of whales, population recoveries since the cessation of commercial whaling are coincident with increasing shipping traffic and increasing fishing efforts," said Stocker.

From Science Daily • Nov. 21, 2024

It turns out that those three other subfamilies have coincident distributions, all of them tiny compared with the distribution of Malayo-Polynesian.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond