postmodern

adjective

post·​mod·​ern ˌpōs(t)-ˈmä-dərn 

nonstandard -ˈmä-d(ə-)rən

1

: of, relating to, or being an era after a modern one

postmodern times

a postmodern metropolis

2

a

: of, relating to, or being any of various movements in reaction to modernism that are typically characterized by a return to traditional materials and forms (as in architecture) or by ironic self-reference and absurdity (as in literature)

b

: of, relating to, or being a theory that involves a radical reappraisal of modern assumptions about culture, identity, history, or language

postmodern feminism

postmodernism

ˌpōs(t)-ˈmä-dər-ˌni-zəm 

noun

postmodernist

ˌpōs(t)-ˈmä-dər-nist 

adjective or noun

postmodernity

ˌpōs(t)-mə-ˈdər-ne-tē 

-mä-

also -ˈder-

noun

Examples of postmodern in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The 11,000-square-foot space, designed by New York’s INC Architecture, has a postmodern look and a pistachio-green main level that would make Miuccia Prada smile. —Justin Fenner, Robb Report, 20 Dec. 2025

In the 1980s, Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer’s proposal to crown the museum by topping it with a 23-story postmodern ziggurat condo tower enraged Upper West Side neighbors. —Justin Davidson, Curbed, 3 Dec. 2025

Each shot looks like a page out of a cursed tome of twisted, postmodern fairy tales, the images forbidding and slightly abstract. —Alison Willmore, Vulture, 1 Dec. 2025

He is known for postmodern and apocalyptic novels. —Brittney Melton, NPR, 10 Oct. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1916, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for postmodern

• premodern
• modern