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

Explanation

Modernism describes things you do that are contemporary or current. Your modernism may be seen in your up-to-date clothing, your contemporary taste in books, and your willingness to stay up on current trends. Modernism can describe thought, behavior, or values that reflect current times, but it can also be used to describe an art and literature movement of the 19th and 20th centuries that intentionally split from earlier conservative traditions. The poet Ezra Pound was a key figure in modernism, and his famous slogan "Make it new!" sums up the values of modernism, which rejected traditional forms and styles for more experimental techniques.

Example Sentences

Emerging in the late ’60s and hitting its stride by the ’80s, postmodernism is defined as a reaction against that less-is-more, strict-type of modernism that came from Europe.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 13, 2026

“So are people that have been obsessing on modern art and modernism all their lives — they’re gonna be confounded by it.”

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 8, 2026

From the point that his “Nude Descending a Staircase” scandalized the American art world in 1913, Duchamp’s influence on modernism was undeniable.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 5, 2026

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 • Jan. 3, 2026

Given that Russia was at this point at the very vanguard of modernism it was a bitter pill to swallow, and understandably so.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall

Related Words

• modernization