mod
adjective
very modern; up-to-date; being in the vanguard in style, dress, etc.
mod
1 American
[mod]
/ mɒd /
adjective
-
very modern; up-to-date; being in the vanguard in style, dress, etc.
-
Sometimes Mod of or relating to a style of dress of the 1960s, typified by miniskirts, bell-bottom trousers, boots, and bright colors and patterns.
noun
-
a person who is in the vanguard in style, dress, etc.
-
Sometimes Mod a British teenager of the 1960s who affected a very neat, sophisticated appearance and wore fancy clothing inspired by Edwardian dress.
mod
2
American
[mod]
/ mɒd /
noun
verb (used with object)
modded,
modding
-
to modify, especially a vehicle or mechanical part.
The car was modded for speed and power.
-
Computers.
-
to rewrite programming code in (a video game) in order to change the appearance or performance of the software.
I modded the game to increase the field of vision.
-
to modify (computer hardware), especially the physical appearance of the case.
I want to mod my PC to include LED lights and custom paint.
-
mod
3
American
[mod]
/ mɒd /
noun
Informal.
Mod
4
American
mod.
5
American
abbreviation
-
moderate.
-
Music. moderato.
-
modern.
mod
1
British
/ mɒd /
noun
mod.
2
British
abbreviation
-
moderate
-
moderato
-
modern
MOD
3
British
abbreviation
mod
4
British
/ mɒd /
noun
mod
5
British
/ mɒd /
abbreviation
Etymology
Origin of mod1
First recorded in 1955–60; by shortening of modern
Origin of mod2
First recorded in 1940–45; by shortening
Origin of mod3
By shortening
Explanation
Something that's stylish or cutting-edge can be called mod. Your mod haircut and outfit might make you feel like the most fashionable person in your neighborhood. Just don't leave your hood. Mod is informal slang for modern, and the two words can be used interchangeably. You can also use mod to talk about the specific 1960s subculture of young jazz and soul fans and motor scooter enthusiasts. Young men and women who dressed in stylish, sophisticated suits and mini skirts, who favored Italian scooters and danced at clubs to R & B music were called mods, originally in contrast to the grungier "rockers."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The trophy features many nods from the 60-year-old musician, including a hand-drawn “cresting wave” illustration and an arrow and mod symbol — an allusion to Vedder’s tribute to the Who on his personal guitar.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2025
The r/FreeLuigi mod suggested that this was to placate advertisers, since Reddit is now suffused with customized ads whose vendors would prefer not to be seen as endorsing contentious topics.
From Slate ● Mar. 13, 2025
The mod she had in mind was eventually dubbed “African Dawn.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 16, 2025
Fallout London is a modification - or mod - that transforms copies of Fallout 4 on PC into a "game within a game", set in Britain.
From BBC ● Apr. 20, 2024
I knew better than to ask for a pair of bell-bottoms or jeans, although Miss Honeywell looked snappy and mod in her shocking-pink bell-bottom pants and matching jacket with big gold buttons.
From "P.S. Be Eleven" by Rita Williams-Garcia
This last category of ’90s babydoll dresses, the ones that hung on the racks at Express and Rampage and Merry-Go-Round, weren’t Mod, weren’t punk, and weren’t Kinderwhore.
From Salon ● Jun. 12, 2026
Battery-powered submarine drones, called the MK18 Mod 2 Kingfish and the Knifefish, made by General Dynamics can be dropped in the water from a small boat and then scan for mines in a pattern.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 19, 2026
Midsize chains including Blaze Pizza and Mod Pizza have closed locations over the past two years as they work to turn around their brands.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 5, 2026
Mod Pizza, a fast-casual chain with more than 40 locations in California, was acquired by a Los Angeles-based restaurant group in July after teetering on the edge of bankruptcy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 19, 2024
Wayne Nashend used to be one of the Upton Punks, briefly became an Upton New Romantic, but now he's firmly an Upton Mod.
From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell
"I don't think I'd be fighting now if I met a mod. I'm 71," he said.
From BBC ● Apr. 20, 2014
Hence the mod. form "Tambour," which has been adopted by Turkey, e.g.
From The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 14 by Sir Richard Francis Burton
The word guard is an adaptation of the Fr. guarde, mod. garde, O. Ger. ward; see Guardian.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 6 "Groups, Theory of" to "Gwyniad" by Various
In old Turk. it means, a Prince of the blood; in mod. times a gentleman, Greek or European.
From The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 15 by Sir Richard Francis Burton
The O. Fr. guarden, garden, mod. gardien, from guarder, garder, is of Teutonic origin, from the base war-, to protect, cf.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 6 "Groups, Theory of" to "Gwyniad" by Various
“A thorough investigation found no evidence of MOD data or systems being accessed, compromised or transmitted externally,” he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
Yet the same MOD source is also relieved Healey is not returning.
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
To get a sense of the shortfall, consider this: the Treasury is currently thinking of giving the MOD an extra £13bn or so over the next four years.
From BBC ● Jun. 12, 2026
Structural damage discovered during repairs to HMS Northumberland means repairing the ship is now uneconomical, the MOD says.
From BBC ● Nov. 20, 2024
Par knew what they were looking for: evidence against the MOD boys.
From Underground by Suelette Dreyfus
“No voltages etc were modded here, we use our own gamma table.”
From The Verge ● Aug. 12, 2022
It also allows you to install modded versions of Android, called ROMs.
From The Verge ● Jul. 31, 2022
When the Model T-Ford was first introduced in 1908 it was embraced and "modded" by rural farming communities.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 24, 2013
A controller that could be modded for more accurate, more responsive gameplay.
From Forbes ● Jul. 8, 2013
It was possible for hackers to use modded visors to spoof their retinal patterns and thus create a second account for themselves.
From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline
ModDB, another popular modding site, also deleted similar uploads to its site this week.
From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2022
So if you’ve been looking forward to modding your brand new Pixel 6A, you shouldn’t have to wait too much longer.
From The Verge ● Jul. 31, 2022
Image: Reddit The mod represents an impressive technological advancement for the Nier: Automata modding community, which in and of itself makes the entire “hoax” worth it.
From The Verge ● Jul. 29, 2022
But he wouldn’t necessarily shy away from modding Ace Combat 7, which only ever offered a VR mode on PlayStation 4, omitting it from the PC version of the game.
From The Verge ● Jul. 1, 2022
While some will call the enormous power and cooling unit cheating, the entire project is still a fascinating 30-minute journey into the trial and error of modding consoles.
From The Verge ● Jun. 21, 2022
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
