modernity

[ mo-dur-ni-tee, moh- ]

noun

, plural mo·der·ni·ties.

1. the quality of being modern.
2. something modern.

Other Words From

• hyper·mo·derni·ty noun plural hypermodernities
• unmo·derni·ty noun plural unmodernities

Word History and Origins

Origin of modernity¹

First recorded in 1620–30; modern + -ity

Example Sentences

These films are also portraits of psyches fracturing in response to modernity — a natural evolution of the questions that ’50s horror asked of suburbia, and one that would only deepen in the coming years.

From Vox

The Blair Witch Project dealt with the notion that for all our modernity, individuals and groups could still be inexplicably lost and never found again — something the modern world was supposed to protect us from.

From Vox

In a turn away from modernity itself, many of the most popular films blended a mix of old-world and historical elements.

From Vox

For Thomas — who died in 1978 but lived long enough to go from what she called “horse and buggy times” to the 1969 moon landing — the rush of modernity demanded expression.

From Washington Post

But, in a century in which the British monarchy faced a modernity that did not always accord easily with its traditions, he helped his Queen and wife become the monarch who defined a new era for her nation.

From Time

The Wilderness Act—enacted to, essentially, protect our national forests and parks from modernity—turns 50 today.

From The Daily Beast

He thinks they are larger problems of cultural modernity that go back at least 100 years.

From The Daily Beast

The lesson of Victorian London is that modernity isn't built one luxury high-rise at a time.

From The Daily Beast

He is a man of deep faith and brilliant intellect, with a healthy dose of modernity and realism.

From The Daily Beast

That glosses with modernity the 19th century laissez fair case against economic and social justice.

From The Daily Beast

And yet, unless my senses deceive me, the old centuries had, and have powers of their own which mere “modernity” cannot kill.

From Project Gutenberg

The city is strong in contrast from every aspect, modernity nudging and crowding antiquity.

From Project Gutenberg

Van B. There's an ingenuous modernity about our friend's historical speculations that is highly refreshing.

From Project Gutenberg

But why visit the sins of modernity upon an international language?

From Project Gutenberg

Then comes an objection to modernity of form, and some reasons for that objection that suggest a very interesting speculation.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• boldness
• brilliance
• cleverness
• daring
• freshness
• imagination
• individuality
• ingenuity
• innovation
• inventiveness
• resourcefulness
• spirit