noun
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the quality or state of being modern
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something modern
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of modernity
Explanation
Use the noun modernity when you're talking about the newness of something, like the modernity of the new, sleek skyscraper in your city. When something is contemporary — it feels like it belongs in the present day — you might take note of its modernity. Sometimes people use the word to discuss something old that's becoming more modern, or attempting to find its place today. You could talk about the balance between tradition and modernity in the Hindu faith, for example. The root of modernity is the Latin word modernus, "modern."
Vocabulary lists containing modernity
Top Ten Most Relevant Words from the Second Democratic Debate, November 14, 2015
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Second Democratic Debate 20 words
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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:
Technological pessimists speak as if modernity itself were a mistake.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026
An inside student might say that prisons in eastern Oregon used to be mental institutions and Army barracks; an outside student might speak about modernity and the need for discipline and control under capitalism.
From Slate ● May 27, 2026
Fashion bible Vogue seemed to agree, saying "Moore has never before so mastered this glamorous aesthetic that goes from timeless sophistication to daring modernity".
From Barron's ● May 22, 2026
When asked about it at a press briefing earlier this month, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said a "unique blend of history and modernity" is making China increasingly appealing to foreigners.
From BBC ● Feb. 14, 2026
Even in modernity, the ages of darkness were not so far behind us.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
In it, he seemed to shove fiction abruptly in the direction of the 21st century, describing humans as they muddled through overwhelming modernities.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2022
Do you find that they are incorporating a lot of modern techniques or modernities in general into the etiquette rules now?
From Slate ● May 2, 2017
The combination was surprisingly good, with the stark modernities of “Limen” set against the lush romanticism of “Marguerite” and the vaguely mystical rites of “Requiem.”
From New York Times ● Oct. 17, 2011
The orchestra sometimes provided halfhearted modernities, medieval primitivisms.
From Time Magazine Archive
Just as we want the newest books and phonographs, the latest conveniences in housing and sanitation, so we want the latest modernities in political, social, and intellectual matters.
From Human Traits and their Social Significance by Edman, Irwin
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.
