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
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Recent Examples of modernist
Joelle Diderich, Footwear News, 7 Nov. 2025
Find mix-and-match patterns, sculptural light fixtures, and sleek furniture, whether that’s the look-at-me bar in green, or the slender modernist seats.
—Chadner Navarro, Vogue, 30 Oct. 2025
Thornton is working on a beach condo with a throwback modernist vibe, and while most of the flooring is terrazzo, her team used plush wall-to-wall carpets for the bedrooms in shades of periwinkle, lilac and mint.
—The Washington Post, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Oct. 2025
This is part of the book’s perverse brilliance, its sense of good old-fashioned modernist fun.
—Literary Hub, 23 Oct. 2025
The modernist gem was last sold to virologist Nathan Wolfe and his playwright wife Lauren Gunderson for around $5 million in 2021 and was subsequently renovated; it has just been relisted for a dash under $7 million.
—Wendy Bowman, Robb Report, 21 Oct. 2025
The space is essential and assertive, a modernist home conceived by NDA Noël Dominguez Architecte, a firm that specializes in the dynamic renovations of existing homes.
—Amir Capogrossi Badreddine, Architectural Digest, 21 Oct. 2025
The new 146,000-square-foot complex of nine interlocking modernist pavilions, built on the site of the former building that was demolished in 2021, almost doubles the museum’s size.
—New York Times, 16 Oct. 2025
Welcome to The Saturn Haus, a sophisticated desert masterpiece that serves as a modernist sanctuary in Joshua Tree, California.
—Tj MacIas, Sacbee.com, 15 Oct. 2025
Margaret Talbot, New Yorker, 3 Nov. 2025
The modernist architects did, however, create several notable buildings throughout Northern California‘s Bay Area during their nearly six-decade career working together.
—Wendy Bowman, Robb Report, 21 Oct. 2025
Or head to Ibirapuera Park, where the Oca and Bienal pavilions (both designed by modernist Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer) regularly host major exhibitions and events.
—AFAR Media, 17 Oct. 2025
The modernist architecture of Luis Barragán, the geometric rigor of the Church of the Resurrection in Bosque de las Lomas, the lush natural landscape, and Mexico’s rich mineral heritage lie at the heart of the creative process behind each of these new pieces.
—Sofia Celeste, Footwear News, 19 Sep. 2025
Bauhaus Human Scale In Stuttgart Stuttgart’s Weissenhof Estate, built in 1927, was a testing ground for modernist ideas.
—Daniel Scheffler, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025
His restaurant sits in the courtyard of the Hotel Saint Augustine, an airy, modernist space brimming with sagebrush.
—The Bon Appétit Staff, Bon Appetit Magazine, 12 Sep. 2025
This was a departure from Pärt’s earlier modernist and experimental music, and expressed a yearslong struggle to reconcile his newfound commitment to Orthodox Christianity and his rigorous artistic ideals.
—Jeffers Engelhardt, The Conversation, 10 Sep. 2025
In terms of design, the EliteBook Ultra G1i has the same sleek, modernist chassis as the Qualcomm Snapdragon version launched last year.
—PC Magazine, 7 Sep. 2025
Noun
The designer, known for his sustainable approach to fashion, made the Mudac’s modernist building pop with a selection of his exuberant beaded creations, and covered an entire room in recycled colored plastic balls in a preview of his upcoming venture into interior design.
—Joelle Diderich, Footwear News, 7 Nov. 2025
Find mix-and-match patterns, sculptural light fixtures, and sleek furniture, whether that’s the look-at-me bar in green, or the slender modernist seats.
—Chadner Navarro, Vogue, 30 Oct. 2025
Thornton is working on a beach condo with a throwback modernist vibe, and while most of the flooring is terrazzo, her team used plush wall-to-wall carpets for the bedrooms in shades of periwinkle, lilac and mint.
—The Washington Post, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Oct. 2025
This is part of the book’s perverse brilliance, its sense of good old-fashioned modernist fun.
—Literary Hub, 23 Oct. 2025
The modernist gem was last sold to virologist Nathan Wolfe and his playwright wife Lauren Gunderson for around $5 million in 2021 and was subsequently renovated; it has just been relisted for a dash under $7 million.
—Wendy Bowman, Robb Report, 21 Oct. 2025
The space is essential and assertive, a modernist home conceived by NDA Noël Dominguez Architecte, a firm that specializes in the dynamic renovations of existing homes.
—Amir Capogrossi Badreddine, Architectural Digest, 21 Oct. 2025
The new 146,000-square-foot complex of nine interlocking modernist pavilions, built on the site of the former building that was demolished in 2021, almost doubles the museum’s size.
—New York Times, 16 Oct. 2025
Welcome to The Saturn Haus, a sophisticated desert masterpiece that serves as a modernist sanctuary in Joshua Tree, California.
—Tj MacIas, Sacbee.com, 15 Oct. 2025
Adjective
Trier’s paternal grandfather, Ernst, was a talented painter of modernist landscapes who never quite fulfilled his early promise.
—Margaret Talbot, New Yorker, 3 Nov. 2025
The modernist architects did, however, create several notable buildings throughout Northern California‘s Bay Area during their nearly six-decade career working together.
—Wendy Bowman, Robb Report, 21 Oct. 2025
Or head to Ibirapuera Park, where the Oca and Bienal pavilions (both designed by modernist Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer) regularly host major exhibitions and events.
—AFAR Media, 17 Oct. 2025
The modernist architecture of Luis Barragán, the geometric rigor of the Church of the Resurrection in Bosque de las Lomas, the lush natural landscape, and Mexico’s rich mineral heritage lie at the heart of the creative process behind each of these new pieces.
—Sofia Celeste, Footwear News, 19 Sep. 2025
Bauhaus Human Scale In Stuttgart Stuttgart’s Weissenhof Estate, built in 1927, was a testing ground for modernist ideas.
—Daniel Scheffler, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025
His restaurant sits in the courtyard of the Hotel Saint Augustine, an airy, modernist space brimming with sagebrush.
—The Bon Appétit Staff, Bon Appetit Magazine, 12 Sep. 2025
This was a departure from Pärt’s earlier modernist and experimental music, and expressed a yearslong struggle to reconcile his newfound commitment to Orthodox Christianity and his rigorous artistic ideals.
—Jeffers Engelhardt, The Conversation, 10 Sep. 2025
In terms of design, the EliteBook Ultra G1i has the same sleek, modernist chassis as the Qualcomm Snapdragon version launched last year.
—PC Magazine, 7 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for modernist
Noun
-
Underly, a liberal, was reelected last year to a second term as state superintendent with strong support from teacher unions and state Democrats.—
Kayla Huynh,
jsonline.com,
5 Nov. 2025
-
Even John Stuart Mill, the model nineteenth-century liberal and a feminist, did not think that Indians in British India were ready for free speech.—
Louis Menand,
New Yorker,
26 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
In short, the great task before us is to revisit and reimagine America’s founding fight as a creation story in the making of our modern world.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
7 Nov. 2025
-
Anyone vaguely near the aesthetic gets christened it by fans, including Bassvictim, who were always funnier and more creative than the other modern electroclash revivalists.—
Kieran Press-Reynolds,
Pitchfork,
6 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
Each robot, remotely operated, clinks glasses and gestures in unison, embodying the camaraderie and hope of the musical’s revolutionaries.—
Kaif Shaikh,
Interesting Engineering,
3 Nov. 2025
-
Paul’s youth and vigor comes with lots of risk, the work of prior revolutionaries threatened to be set back many years.—
David John Chávez,
Mercury News,
28 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Suddenly, sincerity felt like a fresher approach to a contemporary political story—more interesting, more unexpected, and more aligned with my artistic ethos.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
5 Nov. 2025
-
Add to that list Inhotim, a sprawling and relatively obscure contemporary art collection in the jungle of the state of Minas Gerais that surpasses any notion of what a museum can be.—
William O'Connor,
Travel + Leisure,
5 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
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
-
The video below shows how the Kayoibako-K could fit into an ultramodern vision of work/life balance.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
30 Oct. 2025
-
Also in Deer Valley is the ultramodern mansion featured in the HBO dystopian streamer Mountainhead.—
Tori Latham,
Robb Report,
3 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Communism is most readily associated with the one-party dictatorships of the Soviet Union and present-day China.—
Eduardo Cuevas,
USA Today,
3 Nov. 2025
-
In a very rare and likely precedent-setting agreement, the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) Boston has agreed to return two works from 1857 by the Black potter David Drake, who made his ambitious jars while enslaved, to his present-day descendants.—
Jori Finkel,
CNN Money,
30 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Taichito’s current location is unknown.—
Kim Aris,
Time,
7 Nov. 2025
-
Soon, Wegovy and Zepbound will be sold on a new website—dubbed TrumpRx—for only about $250 a month, a fraction of their current retail price of more than $1,000.—
Nicholas Florko,
The Atlantic,
7 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Modernist.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/modernist. Accessed 11 Nov. 2025.
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