minimalism
noun
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In the 1960s, a few composers, including Philip Glass, Steve Reich, and John Adams, began writing music inspired by the music of India and Southeast Asia, often with a quick pulsing beat and chords that are repeated quickly over and over while small changes are slowly introduced. Minimalist art, which began appearing around the same time, tries to strip away all personal elements, often leaving only pure geometric forms; you may have seen the plain silver boxes of Donald Judd, or the straight neon tubes of Bruce Nauman. In literature, the stripped-down fiction of Samuel Beckett and Raymond Carver is often considered minimalist. But there's a real question whether these various types of minimalism should even be considered the same concept.
Examples of minimalism in a Sentence
Amanda Le, InStyle, 10 Apr. 2026
Feelings and thoughts about fleeting beauty, minimalism, suffering, the natural world, and way more come through in these thoughtfully designed and assembled cars that some people build their entire personalities around.
—Caleb Jacobs, The Drive, 9 Apr. 2026
Accommodations, from ocean-view rooms to four-bedroom villas, blend Jenni Kayne’s signature minimalism with the comfort of a New Zealand lodge.
—Amy Louise Bailey, Travel + Leisure, 9 Apr. 2026
Though there was a thrilling edge to their early work—the lightning-in-a-bottle sample drill of Polo Perks and Moh Baretta, that spine-tingling Pasto Flocco run—it’s been dulled a bit in favor of ambling minimalism.
—Olivier Lafontant, Pitchfork, 6 Apr. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Minimalism.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/minimalism. Accessed 16 Apr. 2026.
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