modernist

[mod-er-nist]

noun

1. a person who follows or favors modern ways, tendencies, etc.

2. a person who advocates the study of modern subjects in preference to ancient classics.

3. an adherent of modernism in theological questions.

adjective

1. of modernists or modernism.

Other Word Forms

• antimodernist noun
• hypermodernist noun
• promodernist adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of modernist¹

First recorded in 1580–90; modern + -ist

Example Sentences

Although his own buildings sometimes faced a backlash from critics who thought post-modernism belonged firmly in the 1980s, he maintained that the modernists had been wrong to throw away the history books.

From BBC

The famous abode, originally built in 1959 with late modernist architecture, was renovated decades after “The Brady Bunch” ended in 1974.

From Los Angeles Times

They were pushed by political leaders in South Korea as a high-tech modernist paradise, soon making them the most desirable form of housing for the middle and upper classes.

From Los Angeles Times

In the process, the cosmopolitan modernist composer connects seemingly modernist devices like microtones to their historic roots.

From Los Angeles Times

Prokofiev spent years in Paris and in the U.S. as a modernist, but ultimately Mother Russia was too strong of a pull, and he returned despite the artistic restrictions of Stalinist Russia.

From Los Angeles Times