as in liberals
a person with very modern ideas
the leaders of the American suffragists were originally regarded by many people as uppity moderns who should have stayed in their place
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Recent Examples of moderns
Today, supposedly sophisticated moderns have laundered Moloch’s dark faith into militarism, imperialism, and capitalism.
—
Literary Hub, 3 June 2026
Tad’s subjects were the moderns.
—David Remnick, New Yorker, 20 Mar. 2026
Literary Hub, 3 June 2026
Tad’s subjects were the moderns.
—David Remnick, New Yorker, 20 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for moderns
Noun
-
Yes, remarks those catty modernists made about their host could be less than savory, but Stein wasn’t bothered.—
Emily Cox,
ARTnews.com,
22 May 2026
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Often, modernists didn’t have a coherent vision of the body so much as a criticism of it.—
Zachary Fine,
New Yorker,
31 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Some imagery on the shirt, depicting Haitian revolutionaries from the early 1800s, was declared political and therefore not allowed, having fallen foul of FIFA’s often quite stringent rules around kits at World Cups.—
Nick Miller,
New York Times,
17 June 2026
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Both then and now, targeting revolutionaries like Dessalines has supported that goal.—
Julia Gaffield,
The Conversation,
15 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Moderns.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/moderns. Accessed 22 Jun. 2026.
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