Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Of or relating to recent times or the present: modern history.
- adj. Characteristic or expressive of recent times or the present; contemporary or up-to-date: a modern lifestyle; a modern way of thinking.
- adj. Of or relating to a recently developed or advanced style, technique, or technology: modern art; modern medicine.
- adj. Avant-garde; experimental.
- adj. Linguistics Of, relating to, or being a living language or group of languages: Modern Italian; Modern Romance languages.
- n. One who lives in modern times.
- n. One who has modern ideas, standards, or beliefs.
- n. Printing Any of a variety of typefaces characterized by strongly contrasted heavy and thin parts.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Pertaining to the present era, or to a period extending from a not very remote past to the passing time; late or recent, absolutely or relatively; not ancient or remote in time. With reference to history, modern is opposed to either ancient or medieval — modern history comprising the history of the world since the fall of the Roman empire, or since the close of the middle ages (see
middle ages , under age); but the word is often used in a much more limited sense, according to the subject or occasion: as, modern fashions, tastes, inventions, science, etc., generally referring to the comparatively brief period of from one to three or four generations. Seemodern languages , below. Abbreviated modern - Not antiquated or obsolete; in harmony with the ideas and habits of the present: as, modern fashions; modern views of life.
- Common; trite; general; familiar; trivial.
- In heraldry See ancient, 5.
- Synonyms Recent, Late, etc. See new.
- n. One who has lived or lives in modern times, or who lives at the present day, in distinction from one of the ancients, or from one who lived in time past.
- n. One who adopts new views and opinions.
Wiktionary
- adj. Pertaining to the current time and style.
- n. Someone who lives in modern times.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Of or pertaining to the present time, or time not long past; late; not ancient or remote in past time; of recent period
- adj. obsolete New and common; trite; commonplace.
- n. A person of modern times; -- opposed to
ancient .
WordNet 3.0
- adj. ahead of the times
- n. a contemporary person
- adj. characteristic of present-day art and music and literature and architecture
- adj. belonging to the modern era; since the Middle Ages
- n. a typeface (based on an 18th century design by Gianbattista Bodoni) distinguished by regular shape and hairline serifs and heavy downstrokes
- adj. used of a living language; being the current stage in its development
- adj. relating to a recently developed fashion or style
Etymologies
- From Middle French moderne, from Late Latin modernus; from Latin modo ("just now"), originally ablative of modus ("measure"); hence, by measure, "just now". See also mode. (Wiktionary)
- French moderne, from Old French, from Late Latin modernus, from Latin modo, in a certain manner, just now, from modō, ablative of modus, manner; see med- in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Edouard Drumont's book Jewish France signaled the rise of modern anti-Semitism, attacking Jews for capitalism, radicalism, and other modern problems.”
“This middle zone of power and mastery is the path of the modern transcendentalist, and the one who walks it and lives in unification with its laws is the _modern transcendentalist_ of the new civilization.”
“Owing to the very fact that nothing is more modern than this thorough morbidness, this dilatoriness and excessive irritability of the nervous machinery, Wagner is the _modern artist par excellence_, the Cagliostro of modernity.”
The Case Of Wagner, Nietzsche Contra Wagner, and Selected Aphorisms.
“In the modern world, England and America are the most conspicuous for enlightened views of freedom, and bold vindication of the equal rights of man; yet in these two countries slave laws have been framed as bad as they were in Pagan, iron-hearted Rome; and the customs are in some respects more oppressive; -- _modern_ slavery unquestionably wears its very worst aspect in the Colonies of England and the United”
An Appeal in Favor of that Class of Americans Called Africans
“II. vii.156 (272,3) [Full of wise saws and modern instances] I am in doubt whether _modern_ is in this place used for absurd; the meaning seems to be, that the justice is full of _old_ sayings and _late_ examples.”
“IV. iii.170 (508,9) A modern ecstacy] I believe _modern_ is only”
“III. ii.120 (85,1) Which modern lamentation might have mov'd] This line is left out of the later editions, I suppose because the editors did not remember that Shakespeare uses _modern_ for _common_, or _slight_: I believe it was in his time confounded in colloquial language with”
“Abraham, who made a series of videos lambasting the games in favour of Battlefield 3, argued that he was entitled to use the domain as he pleased because the term "modern warfare" is "generic".”
Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph online, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph
“It was the use of the term "modern" as a preface to philanthropy that truly resonated with me given the fact that in a room full of upper management and c-level suite business-gladiators, if you will, Mr. Simmons stood out as one of few Black men.”
The Huffington Post: Pedro L. Rodriguez: Russell Simmons: Face of Modern American Business?
“According to The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: the word modern was first recorded in 1585 in the sense 'of present or recent times'.”
The Huffington Post: Pankaj Jain, Ph.D.: Hinduism And Modernity
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘modern’.
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Impressionism
Words that describe the art of the impressionist era.
seascapes, landscapes, modern, impression, impressionist, contemporary, flicker, sensation, modernity, perceived, perceiving, momentary and 142 more...
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art & art historical
chiaroscuro, architrave, column, capital, corinthian, dorice, entablature, frieze, ionic, sketch, abecedarian, abstraction and 124 more...
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Keywords, by Raymond Williams
From a book about life and death.
aesthetic, alienation, art, behaviour, bourgeois, bureaucracy, capitalism, career, charity, city, civilization, class and 99 more...
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The Pain of Texting
Words that are a pain in the ass to type in on a numerical keypad on a cell phone because they have consecutive letters that share the same button:
2 - ABC
3 - DEF
4 - GHI...defcon, hi, no, attitude, xylophone, on, monday, monkey, mono, dig, back, babble and 212 more...
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Words That Positively Describe Furniture
Trying to say something nice to a chesterfield? Here are some suggestions:
crafted, designer, solid, ephemeral, classic, versatile, comfortable, innovative, sturdy, lightweight, colorfast, graceful and 26 more...
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Basic English Vocabulary
Very basic words for ESL students.
a, abandon, ability, able, abortion, about, above, abroad, absence, absolute, absolutely, absorb and 4334 more...
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Musical words
nocturne, flat, sharp, waltz, etude, opera, soprano, alto, tenor, bass, cello, flute and 131 more...
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The things they carried (List 2)
Listening to this as an audio book for the second time. Tim O'Brien uses simple words and phrases to great effect. Very few unfamilar and big words . The writing style reminds me of words from Joh...
The, Things, They, Carried, meant, fond, By necessity,, presented to him, far beyond, against the brick..., reaching, taut and 2940 more...
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and all that jazz
traditional, modern, swing, bebop, fusion, cool, Miles, Bird, Weather Report, MJQ, Thelonious Monk, Coltrane and 10 more...
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TT2 Lesson 18
Nevada, basin, faraway, inland, onto, rocky, peak, period, seafloor, prehistoric, historic, history and 77 more...
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Made by Bonnie:)
HACKEDD by: Bonnie :)
bonnie, kelsey, donuts!, dancing, ballet, jazz, tap, hip hop, drill team, modern, company, rosettes and 5 more...
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Intellectual Ammunition
paradox, sine qua non, paradigm, discourse, ideology, precursor, emergent, imperialist, neo-colonialism, hegemony, unipolar, democratization and 60 more...
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Decorator's Lexicon
swatch, sconce, egg and dart, dentil, baseboard, chair rail, molding, wainscotting, arts and crafts, faux, biedermeier, empire and 36 more...
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Sign of the Times
Non-specific labels used to describe different time periods.
old-fashioned, ancient, modern, premodern, postmodern, future, near future, distant future, prehistoric, retro, medieval, stone-age and 3 more...
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sratsrat's Words
cheezikle, flatten, muliebrity, vitrify, moon, the doom, lucubrate, modern, orthodox, catholic, astronaut, opalexpressivate and 29 more...
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Discriptive Adjectives
logo design descriptive words
clever, distinct, curious, easy, different, helpful, Imaginative, inspiring, diverse, unique, friendly, inquisitive and 29 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for modern.
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