Postmodern
adjectiveRelating to a late twentieth-century style or outlook in art, architecture, and thought that questions established conventions and grand explanations.
How to spell postmodern
10 letters · 3 syllables
How to pronounce postmodern
Say the part in capitals loudest.
What does postmodern mean?
- adjectiveRelating to a late twentieth-century style or outlook in art, architecture, and thought that questions established conventions and grand explanations.
Postmodern in a sentence
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The gallery devoted a whole wing to postmodern painting and sculpture.
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Her thesis examined postmodern approaches to identity and language.
Where does postmodern come from?
Language of origin: Latin
This word is a transparent compound built from the prefix post-, taken directly from the Latin preposition meaning 'after', and the adjective 'modern'. 'Modern' itself reaches back to the Late Latin modernus, meaning 'belonging to the present time', which was formed on the Latin adverb modo, 'just now' or 'only lately'. By joining the two, writers produced a term that literally signals what comes 'after the modern'. The compound emerged in the twentieth century, first appearing in discussions of architecture and the arts before spreading into literature, philosophy, and cultural criticism around the middle of the century. Because it is simply post plus modern with no letters added or dropped, the only real spelling decision is whether to keep it solid (postmodern), which is now the standard form, rather than hyphenating it.
How the word is built
- post- (after)
- modern (from Latin modernus, 'of the present time')
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