modernism

noun

mod·​ern·​ism ˈmä-dər-ˌni-zəm 

1

: a practice, usage, or expression peculiar to modern times

such modernisms as "blog," "bromance," and "steampunk"

2

often capitalized : a tendency in theology to accommodate traditional religious teaching to contemporary thought and especially to devalue supernatural elements

3

: modern artistic or literary philosophy and practice

especially : a self-conscious break with the past and a search for new forms of expression

extols the … modernism that laid the foundation of all twentieth-century design

—Jeffrey Simpson

modernist

ˈmä-dər-nist 

noun or adjective

modernistic

ˌmä-dər-ˈni-stik 

adjective

Examples of modernism in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

As a whole, the residences are described as a fusion of Mexican and Mediterranean modernism that lets the materiality do a lot of the speaking. —Emma Reynolds, Robb Report, 7 Feb. 2025

But what Zhang, an artist and feminist activist, does with her story transforms it into a work of calmly bold modernism. —Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 29 Jan. 2025

Things were beginning to change, and although anti-Semitism and misogyny were still alive and well in Austria, the era of progressive Viennese modernism was underway. —Marcy Thompson, Scientific American, 23 Jan. 2025

One was the hedonistic modernism of the 1960s, with its pools and decks and living rooms designed to complement the perfect martini. —Chris Gardner, The Hollywood Reporter, 17 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1737, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing modernism

• hyper-modernism

Kids Definition

modernism

noun

mod·​ern·​ism ˈmäd-ər-ˌniz-əm 

: a modern custom, expression, style, or idea

modernist

-nəst 

noun or adjective

modernistic

ˌmäd-ər-ˈnis-tik 

adjective