Modernist

How to spell modernist

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce modernist

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does modernist mean?

1. nounA person who supports or works in the modern style in art, literature, architecture, or thought, often rejecting traditional forms.
2. adjectiveRelating to or characteristic of modernism in art, design, or ideas.

Modernist in a sentence

• noun

  The gallery devoted one floor to a leading modernist of the 1920s.

• adjective

  The apartment had a clean modernist interior with bare concrete walls.

• noun

  As a committed modernist, the architect stripped every ornament from the design.

• adjective

  Critics praised the novel for its bold modernist structure.

Where does modernist come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word is built on 'modern', which descends from the Late Latin modernus, meaning 'recent' or 'of the present time'. That Latin adjective was formed from the adverb modo, which literally meant 'just now' or 'only lately', so at its heart the word carries the idea of the very latest moment. English absorbed 'modern' in the 1500s, and the suffix '-ist', meaning 'a person who follows or believes in something', was added later to name a follower of new movements. By the late 1800s and early 1900s 'modernist' had become the standard label for writers, artists, and architects who broke deliberately with tradition, as well as for theologians who reinterpreted doctrine in contemporary terms. The spelling is reassuringly regular: it is simply 'modern' plus '-ist', with no doubled letters or silent traps, although the unstressed middle vowel can briefly fool the ear.

How the word is built

• modern (from Latin modernus: recent, of just now)
• -ist (one who practises or adheres to)