modernist

[mod-er-nist]

noun

a person who follows or favors modern ways, tendencies, etc.

a person who advocates the study of modern subjects in preference to ancient classics.

an adherent of modernism in theological questions.

adjective

of modernists or modernism.

Origin of modernist

First recorded in 1580–90; modern + -ist

Related formsan·ti·mod·ern·ist, noun, adjectivehy·per·mod·ern·ist, nounpro·mod·ern·ist, adjective, noun

Examples from the Web for modernist

Every fan of modernist design is probably familiar with a few big names.
How Jews Created American Modernism|Andrew Romano|August 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST
How did they suddenly become so prominent in the modernist design movement?
How Jews Created American Modernism|Andrew Romano|August 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Modernist in style, it has a great sloping roof and circular windows offering views of the city.
The Foodie Capital of Canada|Michele Willens|May 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Stuff like a $345 key-shaped brass bottle opener by Viennese modernist designer Carl Aubock.
I Went to Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop Pop-Up Shop|Andrew Romano|May 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Some day, when I can afford it, I will buy myself a nice Danish modernist desk.
How I Write: Paul Lynch|Noah Charney|December 18, 2013|DAILY BEAST
To call a spiritual thing external and not internal is the chief mode of modernist excommunication.
A Short History of England|G. K. Chesterton
In the light of later experience it is difficult not to be impressed by the modernist flavour of Wallace's attack.
Political Thought in England from Locke to Bentham|Harold J. Laski
Whether such a man calls himself traditionalist or modernist does not greatly matter.
Painted Windows|Harold Begbie
Strange, by the way, that no modernist has translated the horrors of the modern Tusculum into terms of sound and fury!
Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 159, October 6, 1920|Various
Readers unfamiliar with Modernist literature will probably have read the foregoing extracts with utter amazement.
Outspoken Essays|William Ralph Inge

Word Origin and History for modernist

1580s, "a modern person," from modern + -ist. Later, "a supporter of the modern" (as opposed to the classical), c.1700. As a follower of a movement in the arts (modernism), attested from 1927.