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
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But the move also speaks to the role African art played in French modernism, from Picasso’s Cubist forms to Modigliani’s masklike portraits.
—Kelly Presutti, ARTnews.com, 12 Mar. 2025
His defense of biblical inerrancy against the modernism of mainstream Bible scholars had laid the intellectual foundation for the future of evangelical Protestantism.
—Austin Steelman / Made By History, TIME, 12 Mar. 2025
That book sought to understand why James, an abiding Francophile and a prescient admirer of French modernism, could not make a home for himself in Paris in the eighteen-seventies.
—Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 24 Feb. 2025
His unique blend of modernism, spirituality and human scale has inspired fervent devotion and in recent years attracted high profile interventions by international artists.
—Kim Córdova, New York Times, 25 Feb. 2025
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Kelly Presutti, ARTnews.com, 12 Mar. 2025
His defense of biblical inerrancy against the modernism of mainstream Bible scholars had laid the intellectual foundation for the future of evangelical Protestantism.
—Austin Steelman / Made By History, TIME, 12 Mar. 2025
That book sought to understand why James, an abiding Francophile and a prescient admirer of French modernism, could not make a home for himself in Paris in the eighteen-seventies.
—Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 24 Feb. 2025
His unique blend of modernism, spirituality and human scale has inspired fervent devotion and in recent years attracted high profile interventions by international artists.
—Kim Córdova, New York Times, 25 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for modernism
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Cite this Entry
“Modernism.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/modernism. Accessed 24 Mar. 2025.
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