mod·ern·ism
ˈmä-dər-ˌni-zəm
1
: a practice, usage, or expression particular to the present time
… follows the rest of the [original] work more or less line by line, enlivening the language with modernisms and anachronisms of his own.—Contemporary Authors
2
often Modernism
: a tendency in theology to accommodate traditional religious teaching to contemporary thought and especially to devalue supernatural elements
3
: modern artistic or literary philosophy and practice
especially
: a self-conscious break with the past and a search for new forms of expression
… extols the … modernism that laid the foundation of all twentieth-century design. —Jeffrey Simpson
mod·ern·ist
ˈmä-dər-nist
plural -s
mod·ern·ist
ˈmä-dər-nist
: of, relating to, or characteristic of modernism or modernists
Cite this Entry
“Modernism.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/modernism. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.
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