modernism
noun
mod·ern·ism
ˈmä-dər-ˌni-zəm 
1
: a practice, usage, or expression particular to the present time
… follows the rest of the [original] work more or less line by line, enlivening the language with modernisms and anachronisms of his own.—
Contemporary Authors
Contemporary Authors2
often Modernism
: 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
Jeffrey Simpson Examples of modernism in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
In the rustic canyon area of Pacific Palisades, the home of late architect Ray Kappe exemplifies Southern California modernism.
—Mark David, Robb Report, 18 June 2026
The house at 1174 Hillcrest Road was designed in 1958 by architect Rex Lotery and mixes modernism and French Regency style.
—Elizabeth Stamp, Architectural Digest, 16 June 2026
Yet her modernism radiated a belief in the harmony between humans and nature.
—Air Mail, 13 June 2026
In the years that followed, American landscape painting was shuffled off to storage to make room for modernism, and paintings like Church’s, with their glassy finishes and profuse detail, came to seem the embodiment of fuddy-duddy.
—Susan Tallman, The Atlantic, 13 June 2026
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Mark David, Robb Report, 18 June 2026
The house at 1174 Hillcrest Road was designed in 1958 by architect Rex Lotery and mixes modernism and French Regency style.
—Elizabeth Stamp, Architectural Digest, 16 June 2026
Yet her modernism radiated a belief in the harmony between humans and nature.
—Air Mail, 13 June 2026
In the years that followed, American landscape painting was shuffled off to storage to make room for modernism, and paintings like Church’s, with their glassy finishes and profuse detail, came to seem the embodiment of fuddy-duddy.
—Susan Tallman, The Atlantic, 13 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for modernism
Cite this Entry
“Modernism.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/modernism. Accessed 21 Jun. 2026.
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