noun
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the quality or state of being modern
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something modern
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of modernity
Explanation
Use the noun modernity when you're talking about the newness of something, like the modernity of the new, sleek skyscraper in your city. When something is contemporary — it feels like it belongs in the present day — you might take note of its modernity. Sometimes people use the word to discuss something old that's becoming more modern, or attempting to find its place today. You could talk about the balance between tradition and modernity in the Hindu faith, for example. The root of modernity is the Latin word modernus, "modern."
Vocabulary lists containing modernity
Top Ten Most Relevant Words from the Second Democratic Debate, November 14, 2015
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Further, “lethal injection involves individuals with health care training, giving it a sheen of modernity, technological advancement, even sophistication.”
From Slate ● Oct. 7, 2026
The Chrysler Building, which was opened in 1930 as a symbol of exuberance and modernity, had faced several years of uncertainty over its ownership.
From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026
Today the slow-moving, sausage-shaped crafts called zeppelins might seem hopelessly antiquated, but in the mid-1930s they soared at the pinnacle of technology and modernity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
In the tall, slight and blonde athlete, they had found a noble hero to fight against the tides of modernity in service of some older ideal.
From Salon ● Aug. 9, 2026
In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries gunpowder, printing and the compass were the three inventions of modernity most frequently cited to prove the superiority of the moderns to the ancients.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
In it, he seemed to shove fiction abruptly in the direction of the 21st century, describing humans as they muddled through overwhelming modernities.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2022
Do you find that they are incorporating a lot of modern techniques or modernities in general into the etiquette rules now?
From Slate ● May 2, 2017
The combination was surprisingly good, with the stark modernities of “Limen” set against the lush romanticism of “Marguerite” and the vaguely mystical rites of “Requiem.”
From New York Times ● Oct. 17, 2011
Despite a deplorably high turnover in talent, American Ballet Theatre has the physical resources to succeed in everything it does, from a purist four-act Swan Lake to Grahamesque modernities.
From Time Magazine Archive
Chateau de Maintenon The existence of this princely residence is an agreeable reminder of the life of luxury of the olden time albeit certain modernities which we to-day think necessities are lacking.
From Royal Palaces and Parks of France by Blanche McManus
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