rhizoverbBeta
DictionarynowadaysPresent time
adverb

nowadays

NOW-uh-dayz/ˈnaʊədeɪz/

At the present time, especially compared with the past.

Customers can pay with phones nowadays, unlike the cash transactions in the old photograph.

A modern South Asian woman paying with her phone in a cafe, an old sepia photograph of a cash register on wall contrasts present with past, no lettering.
Etymology
nowOld Englishat the present time
+aMiddle Englishon, in
+dayMiddle Englishday
+sMiddle Englishadverbial genitive ending

The pieces combine “now” with an expression meaning “in the day or time,” giving “in these times.” The final -s originally made the expression adverbial rather than simply marking more than one day.

In context

USMLE pass0:51
in the old times maids used to sit on their knees when serving food on stuff so they would commonly have knee bursitis so nowadays we call the pre-patellar bursitis maids bursitis
Knee Bursa

More examples

  • We rarely write letters nowadays.
  • Nowadays, many employees work from home.
  • It's harder to find a cheap apartment nowadays.

Similar words

currently
Emphasizes what is happening now, without necessarily comparing past habits.
now
Can mean this exact moment rather than the present era.