modernism

noun

mod·ern·ism | \ˈmä-dər-ˌni-zəm

Definition of modernism

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

Other Words from modernism More Example Sentences Learn More about modernism

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Other Words from modernism

modernist \ -nist

\ noun or adjective

modernistic \ ˌmä-dər-ˈnis-tik

\ adjective

Examples of modernism in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

As for here at home, the cutoff would only exacerbate the entrenched misconception that Europeans brought modernism to a New World that was in fact a hotbed of culture and innovation long before Cortes and Columbus walked the earth. — Chris Wilson, Time, "Jesus, Genghis Khan and Joan of Arc Are Just Some of the Major Figures That Could Be Cut From AP World History Classes," 25 June 2018 Almost certainly, Mies’ radical modernism put off buyers who favored the reassuring imagery of the Cape Cod houses that William Levitt was building by the thousands. — Blair Kamin, chicagotribune.com, "A less-is-more restoration of a Mies house expands our view of a little-known episode in the famed architect's career," 8 June 2018 As torchbearers for the counterculture, Vouga, 30, and his partner, Lauren Tackberry, 27, have created a home in Berkeley that is refreshingly devoid of the superficial gleam that disposable modernism often emits. — Leilani Marie Labong, San Francisco Chronicle, "Peace, love and a ’70s vibe rock a Berkeley home," 1 June 2018 In his view Islamic fundamentalism was at war with both secularism and modernism, as embodied by the West. — Douglas Martin, BostonGlobe.com, "Bernard Lewis, 101, influential scholar of Islam," 22 May 2018 Alsop, who died after a short illness on May 12 at the age of 70, was known for designing buildings that featured an avant-garde modernism, emphasizing that architecture should be fun. — Alex Bazeley, Curbed, "Playful shopping mall designed by Will Alsop to be built in Kenya," 10 July 2018 The exterior is a multicultural monument, expressing cultural diversity instead of concealing it beneath a cloak of orthodox neoclassicism or modernism. — Blair Kamin, chicagotribune.com, "The national African-American museum still stirs the soul — and drops hints of what to expect at the Obama Presidential Center," 11 July 2018 These colors refer back to the era of high modernism, the 1960s and 1970s. — Nadja Sayej, Teen Vogue, "Artist Sara Cwynar on Perceptions of Beauty," 26 June 2018 Philadelphia artists as a group often feel a bit marginalized by the Art Museum, but this show makes an impressive case for Philadelphia modernism, including such artists as Arthur B. Carles, Benton Spruance, and the brilliant Morton Schamberg. — Thomas Hine, Philly.com, "Art Museum show gives American Modernists - and Philly ones - new respect," 12 Apr. 2018

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