vanguardism

American  

[van-gahr-diz-uhm] / ˈvæn gɑrˌdɪz əm /

noun

1. the beliefs and activities of persons who consider themselves to be leaders in a particular field or school of thought.

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Other Word Forms

• vanguardist noun

Etymology

Origin of vanguardism

vanguard + -ism

Example Sentences

The danger of this a priori politics is vanguardism, under which acolytes of an ideal believe that the ideal is more important than how they reach it.

From The Wall Street Journal

According to Mr. Walzer, the left’s vanguardism has put it in bed with dictators, fanatics and activists who reject reasoned debate as a means to democratic change.

From The Wall Street Journal

He reminded us that a single artist could use vanguardism as mass culture’s minor seventh, that technical prowess was about dirtily programmed drum machines as much as it was about dazzling guitar fills.

From Slate

But you sense a passion in this project now, and it sounds as if it comes from pleasure: the ultimate form of vanguardism.

From New York Times

Yet if the poetic consistency of Hopper's vision now seems far more interesting than the unadventurous vanguardism of most "advanced" American painting in the '20s and '30s, that is partly because it was grounded in 19th century France: especially in Manet, whose work Hopper studied and copied.

From Time Magazine Archive