modernism

American  

[mod-er-niz-uhm] / ˈmɒd ərˌnɪz əm /

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.

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modernism British  

/ 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

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Other Word Forms

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

Etymology

Origin of modernism

First recorded in 1730–40; modern + -ism

Example Sentences

Her mother and local women and children modeled for graphic paintings that point to Schjerfbeck’s growing commitment to a personal brand of home-brewed modernism.

From The Wall Street Journal

“Dreamworld” opens, in the section “Waking Dream,” with harbingers of Surrealism—fusing classicism and modernism, reality and fantasy—by Giorgio de Chirico, whom Apollinaire described as a painter of things beyond the observable.

From The Wall Street Journal

An artist who was often described to have a nomadic and bohemian disposition, he dabbled seamlessly with Cubist-inspired modernism and traditional Indian themes, creating bold and vibrant canvases with scenes from history and mythology.

From BBC

In the end, this is one more strand of this curious architect, whose traditional modernism is now the default vernacular for clients who do not want eye-catching signature buildings.

From The Wall Street Journal

In the early 1960s, Ames faced fierce opposition from civic groups, who decried modernism as a threat to Balboa Park’s Spanish heart.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• modernization