expressionism

noun, often capitalized ex·pres·sion·ism \ ik-ˈspre-shə-ˌni-zəm \

Updated on: 12 May 2018

Definition of expressionism

: a theory or practice in art of seeking to depict the subjective emotions and responses that objects and events arouse in the artist

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expressionist

play \ik-ˈspre-shə-nist\ noun or adjective, often capitalized

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expressionistic

play \ik-ˌspre-shə-ˈni-stik\ adjective

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expressionistically

play \ik-ˌspre-shə-ˈni-sti-k(ə-)lē\ adverb

Recent Examples of expressionism from the Web

Goldsmith’s delicate brand of modernism, so different from the muscular structural expressionism associated with Chicago, was perfectly suited to its small-town setting.

— blair kamin, chicagotribune.com, "Former newspaper building in Indiana, a modernist icon shaped in Chicago, will house architecture school," 4 May 2018
Avant-garde developments on the European continent — in particular, the atonal expressionism of Arnold Schoenberg and, especially, Schoenberg’s student Alban Berg — had made the young Britten eager to explore similar chromaticism in his own work.

— matthew guerrieri, BostonGlobe.com, "A gift from Benjamin Britten’s teacher," 29 Mar. 2018
Their 2009 release, Cyrillic (482 Music), reveals their high-energy rapport in a bruising yet agile set of interactive movements and terse melodic exchanges, their lilting postbop routinely exploding into furious expressionism.

— peter margasak, Chicago Reader, "The saxophonist and percussionist come together for their first local duo concert in more than two years," 12 Jan. 2018
With some ensembles, the angular expressionism of the Bartok Fourth (1929) pushes the music into ugliness.

— john von rhein, chicagotribune.com, "Arditti Quartet launches Ligeti series with wondrous, strange sounds," 21 Oct. 2017
The other, a vertical scroll by the renowned 16th-century landscapist Wen Boren, illustrates a contrasting principle, that of the scholar-artist-poet using nature as a vehicle to reflect internal states, an early kind of expressionism.

— melik kaylan, WSJ, "‘Streams and Mountains Without End: Landscape Traditions of China’ Review: A Genre Flows Through History," 8 Sep. 2017
A Little Bit of Summer 6 The annual summer show exhibit at Art on the Boulevard opens this Saturday with a reception from 6-8 p.m. Enjoy local art with styles ranging from abstract expressionism to photorealism.

— denise harris, star-telegram, "Hello, weekend! Ribs, retro music and the real science of beer," 19 July 2017
Bennett, who’s 40, gives students a healthy dose of German Expressionism alongside the nuts and bolts, from basic screenwriting to advanced postproduction techniques.

— erik himmelsbach-weinstein, Los Angeles Magazine, "This Valley Middle School Has One of the Best Film Programs in the Country," 10 July 2017
But the toughness of German Expressionism can be a hard sell, particularly to Asian buyers.

— scott reyburn, New York Times, "Sotheby’s Makes the Best of a Thinner Summer Season," 30 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'expressionism.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.