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

modernist

ˈmä-dər-nist 

noun or adjective

modernistic

ˌmä-dər-ˈni-stik 

adjective

Examples of modernism in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

MoMA and modernism — in the sense of experimentation and the rejection of tradition — have never been easy bedfellows. —Rachel Corbett, Vulture, 10 Apr. 2025

Among this cohort is also Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, whose vision of industrial modernism helped define the look of postwar urban America. —Nick Remsen, CNN Money, 7 Apr. 2025

The connection among folk art, handcrafts, and modernism was made by a number of curators and collectors at the time. —Susan Tallman, The Atlantic, 12 Mar. 2025

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

Word History

First Known Use

1737, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing modernism

• hyper-modernism

Rhymes for modernism

• autism
• fascism
• racism
• sikhism
• statism
• sufism
• thomism
• tourism
• tropism
• abolitionism
• aldosteronism
• americanism

Kids Definition

modernism

noun

mod·​ern·​ism ˈmäd-ər-ˌniz-əm 

: a modern custom, expression, style, or idea

modernist

-nəst 

noun or adjective

modernistic

ˌmäd-ər-ˈnis-tik 

adjective