Synonyms of modernist

modernist 1 of 2

noun

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

• liberal
• modern
• revolutionary
• leftist
• ultramodernist
• progressive
• reformist
• extremist
• radical
• bohemian
• lefty
• revolutionist
• neophiliac
• reformer

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• fossil
• reactionary
• conservative
• rightist
• fogy
• Tory
• stick-in-the-mud
• traditionalist
• veteran
• dodo
• right-winger
• old hand
• antediluvian
• standpatter
• conformist
• fuddy-duddy
• old-timer
• neoconservative
• neocon
• Bourbon
• square
• archconservative
• diehard
• Colonel Blimp
• stuffed shirt
• paleoconservative

modernist

2 of 2

adjective

as in modern

Related Words

• modern
• contemporary
• modernistic
• ultramodern
• present-day
• current
• newfangled
• new age
• state-of-the-art
• designer
• new
• chic
• up-to-date
• fashionable
• stylish
• mod
• space-age
• red-hot
• new-fashioned
• fresh
• modernized
• latest
• hot
• futuristic
• nontraditional
• updated
• smart
• renewed
• latter-day
• high-tech
• last
• refurbished
• recent
• remodeled

Dissimilar Words

• antique
• old-world
• retro
• vintage
• old-time
• old-school
• old-fashioned
• quaint
• retrograde
• antiquated
• historical
• traditional
• obsolete
• historic
• old-timey
• moldy
• oldfangled
• olden
• rinky-dink

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of modernist

Noun

At the 48th session of UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee in Busan, South Korea, 13 works by Finnish modernist architects Aino, Elissa, and Alvar Aalto were added to the organization’s World Heritage List. — News Desk, Artforum, 28 July 2026

Your favorite modernist is getting three new adaptations this summer. — Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 27 July 2026

When designing an Indianapolis home for a chef and art collector, Jakeb Novak of Specht Novak says his team drew inspiration from nearby Columbus, which has a rich modernist history. — Katherine McLaughlin, Architectural Digest, 20 July 2026

This form makes the book startlingly original, an exemplary modernist novel in its redefinition of storytelling. — Richard Brody, New Yorker, 9 July 2026

James Jarvaise, the late California modernist (1924—2015), cuts a slick silhouette in Henry Taylor’s vibrant impasto rendering of him. — Devorah Lauter, ARTnews.com, 8 July 2026

Woolf composed her great modernist novels and her brilliant essays while troubled by suicidal thoughts and the tumult of two world wars. — The Week Us, TheWeek, 1 July 2026

In 2003, Miu Miu staged its own modernist ode to the Hawaiian staple. — Faran Krentcil, InStyle, 1 July 2026

Against the home’s cleaner architectural lines, Burle Marx’s individual plantings read as painterly gestures, flashes of form and texture that give the grounds their modernist rhythm. — Spencer Elliott, Forbes.com, 23 June 2026

Adjective

In that initial period, Kūki had still regarded modernist Japanese-Scandinavian reduction as necessary. — Literary Hub, 22 July 2026

Located at 23 Mauwee Brook Road in Kent, modernist architect Charles Gwathmey designed the home and it was later upgraded in collaboration with the designer of the World Trade Center Memorial, Michael Arad. — Kaitlyn Keegan, Hartford Courant, 18 July 2026

The four siblings – Anna, Jack, middle brother Ed (Callum Turner) and younger brother Robert (Lukas Gage) – are all adult and all still living at the family home, a modernist property in the hinterlands of Catalonia, Spain. — CNN Money, 17 July 2026

Most of it is made with modernist aesthetics in mind—big blocks of color and minimalist design. — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 13 July 2026

For example, there are shots of iconic landmarks in Paris; the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe and the modernist quarter La Défense emerge in the images as if seen from a landing plane. — Tereza Pultarova, Space.com, 8 July 2026

To some extent, the 2026 festival was a retrospective of the late twentieth century, when modernist strictures were loosening and a more expansive, pluralistic mentality was taking hold. — Alex Ross, New Yorker, 29 June 2026

Gaudí’s radical, modernist designs were mocked in his lifetime but have subsequently been celebrated. — Ashley Mowreader, NBC news, 13 June 2026

Over the subsequent years, McCreary transformed the initially vacant land into an ultra-private, modernist compound spanning nearly 15,000 square feet of living space. — Abby Montanez, Robb Report, 9 June 2026