modernity

noun

mo·​der·​ni·​ty mə-ˈdər-nə-tē 

mä-,

-ˈder- 

1

: the quality or state of being or appearing to be modern

Such details as street lamps, telephone booths, mailboxes and manhole covers have been expensively recreated to recall a past that makes even young Hungarians nostalgic and Western tourists regret the flashy modernity of their cities.

—Henry Kamm

His early work portrayed the idiosyncratic behavior of his zany upper-class family whose wealth and quest for modernity impelled them to try out all the latest inventions and devices of the time, from electric razors to automobiles to flying machines.

—Naomi Rosenblum

2

: the modern era or world and especially the ideas and attitudes associated with the modern world

For all his conservatism, Henry Adams's encounter with modernity led neither to romantic antiquarianism … nor to an intensified commitment to those very liberal arts that were under siege in a market society.

—Peter N. Miller

Examples of modernity in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

By focusing on the methods used by Haitians living outside of urban environments to survive under slavery, colonialism, and now global modernity, Casimir shifts our focus away from the traditional subjects of Haitian historiography, the elites and those who recorded their histories. —Literary Hub, 20 Oct. 2025

Cities, machines, modernity rise; the countryside, the old ways, tradition decline. —Cal Revely-Calder, New Yorker, 20 Oct. 2025

The film’s themes of navigating family expectations, balancing tradition and modernity, and finding courage to follow one’s heart continue to resonate across generations. —Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 20 Oct. 2025

The Sopranos and Succession were also about the flawed nuclear family struggling against modernity. —Grace Byron, Vulture, 20 Oct. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1635, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for modernity

• eternity
• fraternity
• maternity
• paternity
• confraternity
• taciturnity