as in liberal
a person with very modern ideas
a time when Paris was the center of the universe for modernists in the art world
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in modern
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of modernist
Literary Hub, 12 Mar. 2026
Here, visitors can tour the ornate New York State Capitol, explore the modernist Empire State Plaza, and catch a performance at The Egg, the city’s striking, spaceship-like performing arts venue.
—Lauren Dana Ellman, Travel + Leisure, 8 Mar. 2026
After being tucked away in a sprawling Upper East Side apartment for almost 60 years, a rare painting by Indian modernist Akbar Padamsee is going up for sale at Roland Auctions NY on March 28.
—Richard Johnson, New York Daily News, 8 Mar. 2026
Our hotel [the Royal Continental Hotel Naples] was partly designed by the modernist architect Gio Ponti—including the fabrics, the beds, the sinks, and the crazy rooftop pool.
—Lale Arikoglu, Condé Nast Traveler, 6 Mar. 2026
The modernist home, originally designed by Kenneth Lind and updated through the years by Pierre Koenig, Josef Van der Kar, and Chu-Gooding, has three bedrooms and four bathrooms in roughly 3,900 square feet across two levels.
—Wendy Bowman, Robb Report, 4 Mar. 2026
Spinning off the heels of the modernist movement of the day, architects were presented with a new set of challenges, namely limited resources, when designing in the post-war era.
—Katherine McLaughlin, Architectural Digest, 2 Mar. 2026
But there’s also rare Togo Fireside chairs in a deep tobacco color, the classic Eames lounge chair, and a moody brown Ellison Studios Muse sofa inspired by the Italian modernists of the 1970s.
—Elise Taylor, Vanity Fair, 25 Feb. 2026
Warner Lewis, Brown Harris Stevens, (212) 381-6590 Chicago The 1913 Lincoln Street Bath House, once a municipal washing place when indoor plumbing was rare, is now a six-bedroom modernist home with a children’s room featuring an elevated platform storage bed and a play loft.
—The Week Us, TheWeek, 24 Feb. 2026
Gloria Casas, Chicago Tribune, 12 Mar. 2026
First presented to modernist pioneer Philip Johnson in 1979, the annual award has since honored many of the profession’s most influential figures, including the late Zaha Hadid, Norman Foster and Rem Koolhaas.
—Oscar Holland, CNN Money, 12 Mar. 2026
And just when you’ve been swept fully into Parisian romance, walk along the Seine to the Musée National Picasso for a modernist twist.
—Loren Savini, Allure, 10 Mar. 2026
The 1940s Miami home by trailblazing modernist architect Rufus Nims has been boldly reimagined by architect Gabriela Liebert with fluid, sculptural forms.
—Mark David, Robb Report, 9 Mar. 2026
It has been praised by preservationists as an irreplaceable example of modernist architecture.
—Giles Hudson, CBS News, 5 Mar. 2026
That’s why the casting of nonprofessionals is at the core of the modernist project of cinematic demystification, the stripping of theatrical artifice to arrive at an essence—whether social, spiritual, formal, or emotional.
—Richard Brody, New Yorker, 25 Feb. 2026
While the enclave is dominated by multiple 'palace' hotels, a distinction the French government awards only to the most exceptional stays, the new Rosewood Courchevel Le Jardin Alpin stood out for its design-forward take on the valley’s modernist chalets.
—Lane Nieset, Travel + Leisure, 19 Feb. 2026
Across its glossy pages are earthy modernist homes across different Pacific regions, from Big Sur to New Zealand.
—Elise Taylor, Vanity Fair, 18 Feb. 2026
Noun
At the story’s start Mathilda happens upon a new Transfixion, the obscure Black modernist poet Hermia Druitt, who sends her into a tailspin unlike any who came before.
—Literary Hub, 12 Mar. 2026
Here, visitors can tour the ornate New York State Capitol, explore the modernist Empire State Plaza, and catch a performance at The Egg, the city’s striking, spaceship-like performing arts venue.
—Lauren Dana Ellman, Travel + Leisure, 8 Mar. 2026
After being tucked away in a sprawling Upper East Side apartment for almost 60 years, a rare painting by Indian modernist Akbar Padamsee is going up for sale at Roland Auctions NY on March 28.
—Richard Johnson, New York Daily News, 8 Mar. 2026
Our hotel [the Royal Continental Hotel Naples] was partly designed by the modernist architect Gio Ponti—including the fabrics, the beds, the sinks, and the crazy rooftop pool.
—Lale Arikoglu, Condé Nast Traveler, 6 Mar. 2026
The modernist home, originally designed by Kenneth Lind and updated through the years by Pierre Koenig, Josef Van der Kar, and Chu-Gooding, has three bedrooms and four bathrooms in roughly 3,900 square feet across two levels.
—Wendy Bowman, Robb Report, 4 Mar. 2026
Spinning off the heels of the modernist movement of the day, architects were presented with a new set of challenges, namely limited resources, when designing in the post-war era.
—Katherine McLaughlin, Architectural Digest, 2 Mar. 2026
But there’s also rare Togo Fireside chairs in a deep tobacco color, the classic Eames lounge chair, and a moody brown Ellison Studios Muse sofa inspired by the Italian modernists of the 1970s.
—Elise Taylor, Vanity Fair, 25 Feb. 2026
Warner Lewis, Brown Harris Stevens, (212) 381-6590 Chicago The 1913 Lincoln Street Bath House, once a municipal washing place when indoor plumbing was rare, is now a six-bedroom modernist home with a children’s room featuring an elevated platform storage bed and a play loft.
—The Week Us, TheWeek, 24 Feb. 2026
Adjective
The building has a modernist design with brick-and-fiber cement siding in earth-tone colors, including gray, blue and red/brown, documents said.
—Gloria Casas, Chicago Tribune, 12 Mar. 2026
First presented to modernist pioneer Philip Johnson in 1979, the annual award has since honored many of the profession’s most influential figures, including the late Zaha Hadid, Norman Foster and Rem Koolhaas.
—Oscar Holland, CNN Money, 12 Mar. 2026
And just when you’ve been swept fully into Parisian romance, walk along the Seine to the Musée National Picasso for a modernist twist.
—Loren Savini, Allure, 10 Mar. 2026
The 1940s Miami home by trailblazing modernist architect Rufus Nims has been boldly reimagined by architect Gabriela Liebert with fluid, sculptural forms.
—Mark David, Robb Report, 9 Mar. 2026
It has been praised by preservationists as an irreplaceable example of modernist architecture.
—Giles Hudson, CBS News, 5 Mar. 2026
That’s why the casting of nonprofessionals is at the core of the modernist project of cinematic demystification, the stripping of theatrical artifice to arrive at an essence—whether social, spiritual, formal, or emotional.
—Richard Brody, New Yorker, 25 Feb. 2026
While the enclave is dominated by multiple 'palace' hotels, a distinction the French government awards only to the most exceptional stays, the new Rosewood Courchevel Le Jardin Alpin stood out for its design-forward take on the valley’s modernist chalets.
—Lane Nieset, Travel + Leisure, 19 Feb. 2026
Across its glossy pages are earthy modernist homes across different Pacific regions, from Big Sur to New Zealand.
—Elise Taylor, Vanity Fair, 18 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for modernist
Noun
-
Putin’s Kiss — that portrays her as Kremlin youth icon turned aspiring Western liberal who came to publicly disavow the Russian president.—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
6 Mar. 2026
-
Merz is a conservative Atlanticist and unapologetic economic liberal.—
Julia Khrebtan-Hörhager,
The Conversation,
11 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Natural materials, like unpolished wood and linen, are juxtaposed with sleek, modern furnishings.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
18 Mar. 2026
-
Cesar Chavez was a labor organizer and civil rights activist who became one of the most influential figures in the modern farmworker movement, particularly in California and the American Southwest.—
Paris Barraza,
USA Today,
17 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Pat, not knowing about her relationship with Lockjaw, takes to being a father, but Perfidia pulls away, choosing to continue her work as a revolutionary in lieu of settling down.—
Randall Colburn,
Entertainment Weekly,
11 Mar. 2026
-
The elder Khamenei was a genuine revolutionary.—
Karim Sadjadpour,
The Atlantic,
10 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Featuring both contemporary and historical artists from Japan and abroad, TOP offers a broad-spectrum view on the medium of photography.—
Jessica Kozuka,
Travel + Leisure,
13 Mar. 2026
-
Jones, whose novel Kin has just been released, is often described as a timely writer, but to concentrate only on the contemporary urgency of her books is to ignore her clear interest in the past and its conventions.—
Lily Meyer,
The Atlantic,
13 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
By offering to set aside nearly a third of the units as affordably priced, Vessel is able to use Connecticut’s 8-30g law as powerful leverage to get those plans approved — especially in affluent suburbs unaccustomed to large-scale apartment complexes with modernistic architecture.—
Don Stacom,
Hartford Courant,
24 Feb. 2026
-
Others suggested the 50-foot steel sculpture was a bird, a horse, a Viking ship, a baboon or a modernistic representation of Picasso’s dog.—
Kori Rumore,
Chicago Tribune,
15 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
Dubai is known as the business and tourism capital of the Middle East with its iconic, ultramodern skyscrapers, rising amid the desert and housing luxury hotels and residences for the superrich.—
Martha Ross,
Mercury News,
2 Mar. 2026
-
Along with the astonishing views of the Uinta Mountains, the Aspen Camp neighborhood inside the gates of the exclusive Promontory community captivates with a collection of ultramodern homes designed to immerse residents in Park City’s rugged beauty.—
Demetrius Simms,
Robb Report,
6 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
In present-day Montana, Preston Clyburn (Russell) and younger brother Paul (Matthew Fox) are fishing, drinking coffee on porches overlooking the Madison River and living a divine life in God’s Country.—
Daniel Fienberg,
HollywoodReporter,
13 Mar. 2026
-
At the time, present-day North America had a subtropical climate and was split in half by a seaway that ran from the Gulf of Mexico north to the Arctic.—
Laura Baisas,
Popular Science,
12 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
The facility had been recently hardened with a concrete shell and then covered with soil in the months before the current conflict.—
Sujita Sinha,
Interesting Engineering,
12 Mar. 2026
-
The discovery that the sun and many of these solar twins are of similar ages and located about the same distance from the center of the galaxy suggests that the sun is not at its current position by accident.—
Charles Q. Choi,
Space.com,
12 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Modernist.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/modernist. Accessed 19 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
