The pace of contemporary life (5)
I believe the answer is:
tempo
'the pace' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'of contemporary life' is the wordplay.
'of' says the answer is hidden in the clue.
'TEMPO' is hidden within 'contemporary life'.
(Other definitions for tempo that I've seen before include "Beat (music)" , "Speed of a musical piece" , "Speed or beat, musically" , "Metronome output" , "What a metronome provides" .)