modernism

noun

mod·​ern·​ism ˈmä-dər-ˌni-zəm 

1

: a practice, usage, or expression particular to the present time

… follows the rest of the [original] work more or less line by line, enlivening the language with modernisms and anachronisms of his own.

—Contemporary Authors

2

often Modernism : 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

modernist

ˈmä-dər-nist 

noun or adjective

modernistic

ˌmä-dər-ˈni-stik 

adjective

Examples of modernism in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Here’s a pale pink paradise that Shea McGee would delight in, on account of its baskets, ochre accents, and its clean but warm take on rustic modernism. —Erika Owen, Architectural Digest, 16 Dec. 2025

The artworks were part of a joint exhibit with the São Paulo Museum of Modern Art that highlighted rare books and how modernism took shape in Brazil. —CBS News, 8 Dec. 2025

His work is rooted in 20th-century modernism, particularly geometric abstraction, but for him, that is just a starting point. —Ray Mark Rinaldi, Denver Post, 1 Dec. 2025

Lately, Coll has found a distinctive voice—a kind of romantic neo-modernism, abrasive and rhapsodic by turns. —Alex Ross, New Yorker, 1 Dec. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1737, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing modernism

• hyper-modernism

Rhymes for modernism

• autism
• fascism
• racism
• sikhism
• statism
• sufism
• thomism
• tourism
• tropism
• abolitionism
• aldosteronism
• americanism

Kids Definition

modernism

noun

mod·​ern·​ism ˈmäd-ər-ˌniz-əm 

: a modern custom, expression, style, or idea

modernist

-nəst 

noun or adjective

modernistic

ˌmäd-ər-ˈnis-tik 

adjective