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
Jeffrey Simpson Examples of modernism in a Sentence
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New York — the music, the energy, the mix of elegance and edge — a moment when modernism and nostalgia collided to create a new style language.
—Lisa Lockwood, Footwear News, 30 Sep. 2025
Gertrude set out to generate the same kind of shock—modernism’s disruption of form and perspective—by using words to compose a fractured picture.
—Judith Thurman, New Yorker, 29 Sep. 2025
Cut to a decade later and the co-collaborators have returned to prove that third time’s the charm, with a new furniture and decor capsule merging European modernism with relaxed California living.
—Audrey Lee, Architectural Digest, 25 Sep. 2025
One of the big themes in the show is humanizing modernism through what is happening during this time.
—Duante Beddingfield, Freep.com, 19 Sep. 2025
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Lisa Lockwood, Footwear News, 30 Sep. 2025
Gertrude set out to generate the same kind of shock—modernism’s disruption of form and perspective—by using words to compose a fractured picture.
—Judith Thurman, New Yorker, 29 Sep. 2025
Cut to a decade later and the co-collaborators have returned to prove that third time’s the charm, with a new furniture and decor capsule merging European modernism with relaxed California living.
—Audrey Lee, Architectural Digest, 25 Sep. 2025
One of the big themes in the show is humanizing modernism through what is happening during this time.
—Duante Beddingfield, Freep.com, 19 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for modernism
Cite this Entry
“Modernism.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/modernism. Accessed 7 Oct. 2025.
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