premodern
adjective
pre·mod·ern
ˌprē-ˈmä-dərn 
nonstandard -ˈmä-d(ə-)rən
variants
or pre-modern
1
: of, relating to, originating in, or being an era before a modern one
premodern societies/beliefs
the pre-modern world
in premodern times
… still living in huts and using pre-modern agricultural methods 150 years after the invention of the steam engine.—
Jo Ann Skousen
Jo Ann Skousen2
or pre-Modern
: of, relating to, characterized by, or being any of the artistic and literary practices and philosophies that preceded those of modernism (see modernism sense 3)
pre-Modern architecture
a pre-Modern artist/writer
… following pre-modern conventions of pictorial composition, the artist combines several distinct vignettes within a single picture frame …—Benjamin Schmidt
Benjamin SchmidtExamples of premodern in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
For a long time, influenced by anthropologists, historians of premodern Europe tried to make these strange things make perfect sense.
—Chandler Fritz, The New York Review of Books, 21 Mar. 2026
The private Nezu Museum houses the collection of industrialist and politician Kaichiro Nezu, who had a penchant for premodern Buddhist art from Japan and East Asia.
—Jessica Kozuka, Travel + Leisure, 13 Mar. 2026
Not in crushing debt, but in rejecting American culture’s pervasive backward slide into premodern flimflam.
—Hillary Busis, Vanity Fair, 13 Feb. 2026
The history of premodern Southeast Asia, where small kingdoms competed and traded without coming under the dominion of China or India, suggests a different model.
—JSTOR Daily, 5 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for premodern
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Chandler Fritz, The New York Review of Books, 21 Mar. 2026
The private Nezu Museum houses the collection of industrialist and politician Kaichiro Nezu, who had a penchant for premodern Buddhist art from Japan and East Asia.
—Jessica Kozuka, Travel + Leisure, 13 Mar. 2026
Not in crushing debt, but in rejecting American culture’s pervasive backward slide into premodern flimflam.
—Hillary Busis, Vanity Fair, 13 Feb. 2026
The history of premodern Southeast Asia, where small kingdoms competed and traded without coming under the dominion of China or India, suggests a different model.
—JSTOR Daily, 5 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for premodern
Cite this Entry
“Premodern.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/premodern. Accessed 5 Apr. 2026.
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