modernism

[mod-er-niz-uhm]

noun

1. modern character, tendencies, or values; adherence to or sympathy with what is modern.

2. a modern usage or characteristic.

3. (initial capital letter)

   1. 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.

   2. the liberal theological tendency in Protestantism in the 20th century.

4. (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.

modernism

/ ˈmɒdəˌnɪzəm /

noun

1. modern tendencies, characteristics, thoughts, etc, or the support of these

2. something typical of contemporary life or thought

3. a 20th-century divergence in the arts from previous traditions, esp in architecture See International Style

4. (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

Other Word Forms

• antimodernism noun
• modernistic adjective
• modernist noun
• modernistically adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of modernism¹

First recorded in 1730–40; modern + -ism

Example Sentences

The question of where to donate the art came next, and Jane said there weren’t many places that came into play when she was looking for institutions with a long-standing commitment to Germanic modernism.

From Los Angeles Times

"The modernism that was around before the 1980s was very grey, restrictive, utilitarian and quite doctrinaire really," Farrell said.

From BBC

The West Coast premiere of Tod Machover’s opera ‘Schoenberg in Hollywood’ is a bizarre look at uncompromising modernism and entertainment.

From Los Angeles Times

Husain, who died in 2011, aged 95, was a pioneer of Indian modernism and remains a lasting inspiration for Indian artists.

From BBC

We’ve now had a century of modern dance, led by the likes of Merce Cunningham, George Balanchine and many others whose modernism delved into the very essence of the body’s ability to express the ineffable.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• modernization