This shows grade level based on the word's complexity.
modernism
[ mod-er-niz-uhm ]
/ ˈmɒd ərˌnɪz əm /
Save This Word!
This shows grade level based on the word's complexity.
noun
modern character, tendencies, or values; adherence to or sympathy with what is modern.
a modern usage or characteristic.
(initial capital letter)Theology.
- the movement in Roman Catholic thought that sought to interpret the teachings of the Church in the light of philosophic and scientific conceptions prevalent in the late 19th and early 20th centuries: condemned by Pope Pius X in 1907.
- the liberal theological tendency in Protestantism in the 20th century.
(sometimes initial capital letter) a deliberate philosophical and practical estrangement or divergence from the past in the arts and literature occurring especially in the course of the 20th century and taking form in any of various innovative movements and styles.
QUIZ
THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?
Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.
Question 1 of 7
In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…
OTHER WORDS FROM modernism
an·ti·mod·ern·ism, nounWords nearby modernism
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use modernism in a sentence
British Dictionary definitions for modernism
modernism
/ (ˈmɒdəˌnɪzəm) /
noun
modern tendencies, characteristics, thoughts, etc, or the support of these
something typical of contemporary life or thought
a 20th-century divergence in the arts from previous traditions, esp in architectureSee International Style
(capital) RC Church the movement at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries that sought to adapt doctrine to the supposed requirements of modern thought
Derived forms of modernism
modernist, noun, adjectivemodernistic, adjectivemodernistically, adverbCollins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012