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

Fast forward to modern day and Wimbledon has managed to walk the line of modernity and progress with tradition and heritage in ways other tournaments have not as modern tennis fashion continues to push boundaries within the constraints of tradition at the tournament. —Jon Haworth, ABC News, 9 July 2024

Biden is saying that Europe has spent a lot of modernity being anxious about Russia, from the time of the Napoleonic Wars all the way up to the fall of the Soviet Union. —Katy Waldman, The New Yorker, 26 June 2024

But modernity has shaped communities that are particularly vulnerable to fire. —Stephen Pyne, Scientific American, 16 Apr. 2024

Modern art was born from African art, with its understanding of essence, reduction, and modernity. —Mark Holgate, Vogue, 25 June 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1635, in the meaning defined at sense 1