postmodern

adjective

post·​mod·​ern ˌpōs(t)-ˈmä-dərn 

 nonstandard  -ˈmä-d(ə-)rən

1

: of, relating to, or being an era after a modern one

postmodern times

a postmodern metropolis

2

a

: of, relating to, or being any of various movements in reaction to modernism that are typically characterized by a return to traditional materials and forms (as in architecture) or by ironic self-reference and absurdity (as in literature)

b

: of, relating to, or being a theory that involves a radical reappraisal of modern assumptions about culture, identity, history, or language

postmodern feminism

postmodernism

ˌpōs(t)-ˈmä-dər-ˌni-zəm 

noun

postmodernist

ˌpōs(t)-ˈmä-dər-nist 

adjective or noun

postmodernity

ˌpōs(t)-mə-ˈdər-ne-tē 

-mä-

 also  -ˈder-

noun

Examples of postmodern in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

To acknowledge this isn’t to lapse into some postmodern view that the numbers are all fake anyway, and that Trump’s attacks thus don’t matter. —Jon Allsop, New Yorker, 8 Aug. 2025

There’s no deconstruction of postmodern mythmaking, no DeLilloan meditation on terror. —Dan Piepenbring, Harpers Magazine, 16 July 2025

Kurosawa has been here before, mining suspense from the cold surfaces of postmodern life. —Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 18 July 2025

The film’s origin story is itself a postmodern yarn. —Arkansas Online, 17 July 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1916, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for postmodern

• premodern
• modern