modernism
noun
mod·ern·ism
ˈmä-dər-ˌni-zəm 
1
: a practice, usage, or expression peculiar to modern times
such modernisms as "blog," "bromance," and "steampunk"
2
often capitalized
: a tendency in theology to accommodate traditional religious teaching to contemporary thought and especially to devalue supernatural elements
3
: modern artistic or literary philosophy and practice
especially
: a self-conscious break with the past and a search for new forms of expression
extols the … modernism that laid the foundation of all twentieth-century design —
Jeffrey Simpson
Jeffrey Simpson Examples of modernism in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The abode brings together a few different design inspirations, from classic midcentury modernism to Japanese wabi-sabi philosophy.
—Tori Latham, Robb Report, 31 Mar. 2025
To Sickert that would have been an insult; his modernism was defined by slovenliness.
—Eliza Goodpasture, ARTnews.com, 27 Mar. 2025
This Park City stunner is what happens when sleek modernism meets après-ski luxury.
—Bailey Berg, Architectural Digest, 22 Mar. 2025
Taken together, these paintings are an offshoot of modernism that was perhaps only possible in a place like Chicago—an inland jewel that was neither coast nor prairie, frontier nor empire, but something stranger, lonelier.
—Jeremy Lybarger, ARTnews.com, 26 Mar. 2025
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Tori Latham, Robb Report, 31 Mar. 2025
To Sickert that would have been an insult; his modernism was defined by slovenliness.
—Eliza Goodpasture, ARTnews.com, 27 Mar. 2025
This Park City stunner is what happens when sleek modernism meets après-ski luxury.
—Bailey Berg, Architectural Digest, 22 Mar. 2025
Taken together, these paintings are an offshoot of modernism that was perhaps only possible in a place like Chicago—an inland jewel that was neither coast nor prairie, frontier nor empire, but something stranger, lonelier.
—Jeremy Lybarger, ARTnews.com, 26 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for modernism
Cite this Entry
“Modernism.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/modernism. Accessed 16 Apr. 2025.
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