WordValemodernism
an early-20th-century movement breaking with traditional forms
In more detail
1. (noun) a style or movement in art, literature, music, and architecture in the late 19th and 20th centuries that rejected traditional styles and experimented with new forms and ideas
2. (noun) the practice of adopting modern ideas, methods, or technologies instead of traditional ones
Examples
- 1. The architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright is considered an important part of modernism.
- 2. The company's embrace of modernism in its production methods made it more efficient.
How to use modernism
Modernism refers both to a specific historical movement in the arts (roughly 1890s–1950s) characterized by radical experimentation, and more broadly to the adoption of modern ideas and methods over traditional ones. In art and literature contexts, it carries cultural and aesthetic weight; in general contexts, it is more neutral. The term often implies deliberate rejection of the past rather than mere change.
Common phrases
- artistic modernism
- architectural modernism
- literary modernism
- embrace modernism
- reject modernism
- modernism movement
Synonyms
avant-gardism · experimentalism · innovation · modernization · contemporary movement
Opposites
traditionalism · classicism · conservatism
Word family
modernist (noun/adjective) · modernistic (adjective) · modernize (verb)
A common mistake
Learners sometimes confuse modernism with modernity or modernization; modernism is specifically an artistic and intellectual movement or philosophy, not simply the state of being modern or the process of making things modern.
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