How to Use modernism in a Sentence

modernism

noun
Definition of modernismnext
Synonyms for modernismnext
  • The Red Studio is among the most gorgeous lodestars in all of modernism.
    — Vulture, 3 May 2022
  • The guest rooms and suites combine French chic with Dutch modernism.
    — Joanne Shurvell, Forbes, 19 Dec. 2022
  • That, in essence, was the dream of 20th-century modernism.
    — Sebastian Smee, Washington Post, 14 Apr. 2023
  • Secular modernism has tried to get the fruits of the Jesus-message without the roots.
    — Time, 2 Apr. 2021
  • This was the year that deconstruction and modernism were born.
    — New York Times, 9 Apr. 2021
  • And the modernism of the past century remains ever-present.
    — Amy Verner, Vogue, 28 Oct. 2021
  • The building’s modernism seemed refreshing, up to a point.
    — Wendy Goodman, Curbed, 2 Aug. 2021
  • Ernesto’s work — the civic promise of modernism and his own warm version of it — inspired Richard to join the profession.
    — New York Times, 18 Dec. 2021
  • Is this a terrible break from Lever House’s sleek modernism?
    — Audrey Wachs, Curbed, 14 Mar. 2022
  • With the invention of collage in 1912, the Cubists opened a second path for modernism.
    — Jason Farago, New York Times, 11 Nov. 2022
  • But that alienation—the flip side of modernism—is missing from Murrell’s take on the Harlem Renaissance.
    — Hilton Als, The New Yorker, 4 Mar. 2024
  • The lobby, guest rooms, spa and two pools combine a clubby modernism and dolce far niente, while heart-skipping views of the Dolomites backdrop it all.
    — Andrew Nelson, WSJ, 10 Aug. 2022
  • That’s why the history of modernism is often cast as the history of a failure.
    — Sebastian Smee, Washington Post, 15 Feb. 2023
  • This room showed me that there are ways to push modernism into something that is really baroque.
    — Camille Okhio, ELLE Decor, 6 Sep. 2022
  • And yet, in the realm of mid-century poetry, rhymesters of either camp were up against the arid abstentions of high modernism.
    — Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 23 May 2022
  • The mild-mannered modernism of his early works, sampled at the New Museum, affords no hints to the contrary.
    — Peter Schjeldahl, The New Yorker, 18 July 2022
  • In the movies, modernism is almost always a field of male power, whether or not a critique is intended.
    — Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 27 Oct. 2022
  • Early Danish modernism has not been one of the museum’s strengths, at least not until now.
    — Steven Litt, cleveland, 11 Sep. 2022
  • Mann’s new style is modernism in a high-bourgeois mode, as byzantine in its layering as anything in Joyce.
    — Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 17 Jan. 2022
  • But in terms of the tree of art history, of modernism, Hopper’s line really doesn’t go anywhere.
    — John Anderson, WSJ, 28 Dec. 2023
  • Hopper has always been part of the bad conscience of American modernism.
    — Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 8 Dec. 2022
  • The entire collection of art spans 500 years, from the Renaissance to modernism's masters.
    — Anna Lazarus Caplan, Peoplemag, 10 Nov. 2022
  • The label rose to fame during the decade, after all, thanks to its refreshing modernism and futurism.
    — Christian Allaire, Vogue, 11 Jan. 2022
  • The flat steel roof, a key element of desert modernism, makes the home almost disappear into the terrain and the lush landscaping.
    — Emma Reynolds, Robb Report, 21 May 2024
  • As modernism settles into the distant past, the role of French artist Paul Cézanne in forging that movement has never seemed more certain.
    — J.s. Marcus, WSJ, 6 May 2022
  • In the 20th century, modernism took hold in homes (think: stark white walls and geometric shapes), causing floral prints to fall out of favor.
    — Shivani Vyas, Better Homes & Gardens, 10 Nov. 2021
  • With its low-slung form, deep overhangs, and emphasis on outdoor space, this house is a clear descendant of desert modernism.
    — Lydia Lee, ELLE Decor, 21 Sep. 2022
  • More than 200 paintings, sculptures and drawings — with the odd photograph thrown in, and a plan to rotate some artworks — trace the flow of ideas from early modernism to the postwar era.
    — Kriston Capps, Washington Post, 10 Apr. 2024
  • The novel aesthetic of Art Nouveau wrapped modernism in the garb of pleasure, instead of in the hair shirt of social obligation and moral uplift.
    — Regina Cole, Forbes, 1 Jan. 2023
  • Each marked an advancement of modernism’s half-mad evolution.
    — Jerry Saltz, Vulture, 27 May 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'modernism.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: