Acmeism

noun

Ac·​me·​ism ˈak-mē-ˌi-zəm 

: a literary movement among Russian poets in the early 20th century that was characterized by a reaction against the vagueness of symbolism and by an emphasis on clarity

Acmeism, Futurism, and other movements flourished and then were silenced by the Stalin era.

—A. V. Knowles, Notes and Queries, March 1993

Acmeist

ˈak-mē-ist 

adjective

The Acmeist movement reacted against the refined and beautiful obscurities of Symbolism …

—Michael Collier, Baltimore Sun, 23 Feb. 2003

Acmeist noun

or less commonly acmeist

plural Acmeists also acmeists

The work of the major Acmeists began to appear in the Soviet Union only … in the 1960s …

—Bernice Glatzer Rosenthal, Nietzsche and Soviet Culture, 1994

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Russian akmeizm, from Greek akmḗ acme + Russian -izm -ism

First Known Use

1913, in the meaning defined above

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