as in progressive
being or employing the latest concepts, styles, or techniques
a very avant-garde artist whose works wouldn't even be considered art by many traditionalists
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in vanguard
the innovators of new concepts, styles, and techniques especially in the arts
to the theater world's avant-garde, the melodrama seemed like a very old-fashioned play whose time had come and gone
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of avant-garde
Tim Brinkhof, Big Think, 12 Sep. 2025
With its calculatedly severe form, the film both distills and extends melodrama to avant-garde extremes.
—Richard Brody, New Yorker, 10 Sep. 2025
Jan Tumlir, Artforum, 1 Sep. 2025
The Ann Arbor Film Festival (which returns March 24-29, 2026) was founded in 1963 and is globally recognized for its avant-garde theme.
—Julie Hinds, Freep.com, 1 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for avant-garde
Adjective
Rather than dreading this disorder, the avant-garde welcomed it.
—Tim Brinkhof, Big Think, 12 Sep. 2025
With its calculatedly severe form, the film both distills and extends melodrama to avant-garde extremes.
—Richard Brody, New Yorker, 10 Sep. 2025
Noun
Numerous precedents for Thomson’s approach can be cited from the annals of the avant-garde and/or underground, including such works as Wallace Berman’s Aleph, 1956–66; Stan Brakhage’s Mothlight, 1963; and Tony Conrad’s The Flicker, 1966.
—Jan Tumlir, Artforum, 1 Sep. 2025
The Ann Arbor Film Festival (which returns March 24-29, 2026) was founded in 1963 and is globally recognized for its avant-garde theme.
—Julie Hinds, Freep.com, 1 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for avant-garde
Recent Examples of Synonyms for avant-garde
Adjective
-
Now, major Hollywood unions and progressive groups are pushing back, accusing ABC and its affiliates of censorship and demanding a boycott of Disney properties.—
Amanda Castro
Shane Croucher
Anna Commander,
MSNBC Newsweek,
18 Sep. 2025
-
Without establishing any link to last week’s shooting, the Republican president and members of his administration have discussed classifying some groups as domestic terrorists, ordering racketeering investigations and revoking tax-exempt status for progressive nonprofits.—
Sydney Lake,
Fortune,
17 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
He’s so far collaborated with acts like Ecco2k and Xaviersobased, themselves vanguards of the underground-rap scene.—
Jeff Ihaza,
Rolling Stone,
9 Sep. 2025
-
Waymo’s self-driving cars are a vanguard of this movement, a vehicle that can perceive its surroundings and make decisions in real time.—
Divyaditya Shrivastava,
Forbes.com,
3 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Some are very advanced, others are more conservative.—
Michaila Byrne,
MSNBC Newsweek,
18 Sep. 2025
-
That includes fire-resistant construction, geothermal systems, advanced energy storage, shaded walkways, and recycled water to support the gardens while reducing environmental impact.—
Abby Montanez,
Robb Report,
18 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Burnham Yard also is near an Environmental Protection Agency Superfund site for radium contamination, but the Terracon report did not find any indication that there is a substantial amount of radioactive material underground.—
Elliott Wenzler,
Denver Post,
14 Sep. 2025
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But now European and American scientists are exploring whether the first human Martians could find refuge via dormant volcanos scattered across the Red Planet, inside lava tubes that criss-cross the Mars underground.—
Kevin Holden Platt,
Forbes.com,
9 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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There is immense comfort in shared failure; there is immense career risk in an unconventional success that cannot be easily explained to a board.—
Benjamin D. Summers,
Forbes.com,
15 Sep. 2025
-
And at last week’s Davis Cup qualifiers, an even weirder extension of the unconventional serve made a high-profile appearance.—
Matthew Futterman,
New York Times,
15 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Hill, an investigative journalist and news anchor at Jonesboro TV station KAIT, was a pioneering documentary filmmaker dedicated to sharing Arkansas’ history with a wider public.—
Eric E. Harrison,
Arkansas Online,
11 Sep. 2025
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The Robert and Anne Drew Award for Documentary Excellence is named for the pioneering husband and wife filmmaking team and includes a $5,000 cash prize contributed by Drew Associates.—
Matthew Carey,
Deadline,
10 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Jim Rinnert was the longtime art director for In These Times magazine and a theater enthusiast who co-wrote an award-winning multimedia theatrical work based on the writings of avant-grade theater and cinema artist Antonin Artaud.—
Bob Goldsborough,
Chicago Tribune,
21 Aug. 2025
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The product of a multinational household — daughter of a West African percussionist and a Swedish designer, stepdaughter of avant-jazz trumpeter Don Cherry — this year's most daring Best New Artist nominee went on to join several abrasive and ear-shattering British punk bands in the early '80s.—
EW.com,
EW.com,
13 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Still, the trouble with grafting modern assumptions onto distant historical eras is that the two usually mix like oil and water.—
Will Collins,
The Washington Examiner,
19 Sep. 2025
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Built as a modern Mega Drive (or Genesis) game with a cartridge release planned next year, Earthion really pushes what that console can do.—
Ollie Barder,
Forbes.com,
19 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Avant-garde.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/avant-garde. Accessed 19 Sep. 2025.
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