modernity
noun
mo·der·ni·ty
mə-ˈdər-nə-tē 
mä-,
-ˈder-
1
: the quality or state of being or appearing to be modern
Such details as street lamps, telephone booths, mailboxes and manhole covers have been expensively recreated to recall a past that makes even young Hungarians nostalgic and Western tourists regret the flashy modernity of their cities.—
Henry Kamm
Henry KammHis early work portrayed the idiosyncratic behavior of his zany upper-class family whose wealth and quest for modernity impelled them to try out all the latest inventions and devices of the time, from electric razors to automobiles to flying machines.—Naomi Rosenblum
Naomi Rosenblum2
: the modern era or world and especially the ideas and attitudes associated with the modern world
For all his conservatism, Henry Adams's encounter with modernity led neither to romantic antiquarianism … nor to an intensified commitment to those very liberal arts that were under siege in a market society.—Peter N. Miller
Peter N. MillerExamples of modernity in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Her character embodies the duality that runs throughout the series: tradition versus modernity, family versus business, and immigrant dreams versus criminal reality.
—Pooja Shah, Forbes, 6 Mar. 2025
The ghosts debate the nature of China’s modernity, the struggle between Confucian and Legalist traditions, and the influence of Japanese versus European ideas on the New Culture Movement.
—Philip Tinari, Artforum, 1 Mar. 2025
But as modernity happens, parking lots are built, generations change, culture shifts.
—Lisa Wong MacAbasco, Vogue, 28 Feb. 2025
While other architectural movements showed reverence for history — neo-Classical for ancient Greece and Rome, Gothic Revival for the Middle Ages — Brutalism was about modernity.
—Anna Kodé, New York Times, 22 Feb. 2025
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Pooja Shah, Forbes, 6 Mar. 2025
The ghosts debate the nature of China’s modernity, the struggle between Confucian and Legalist traditions, and the influence of Japanese versus European ideas on the New Culture Movement.
—Philip Tinari, Artforum, 1 Mar. 2025
But as modernity happens, parking lots are built, generations change, culture shifts.
—Lisa Wong MacAbasco, Vogue, 28 Feb. 2025
While other architectural movements showed reverence for history — neo-Classical for ancient Greece and Rome, Gothic Revival for the Middle Ages — Brutalism was about modernity.
—Anna Kodé, New York Times, 22 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for modernity
Cite this Entry
“Modernity.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/modernity. Accessed 13 Mar. 2025.
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