antimodernism
|an-ti-mod-ern-ism|
🇺🇸
/ˌæn.tiˈmɑdərnɪzəm/
🇬🇧
/ˌæn.tiˈmɒd.ən.ɪzəm/
against modernity/modernism
Etymology
'antimodernism' originates from the combining forms 'anti-' (from Greek 'antí' meaning 'against') + 'modern' (from Late Latin 'modernus' meaning 'of today') + the suffix '-ism' (via Greek/Latin '-ismos'/'-ismus' denoting a practice, system, or ideology).
'modern' developed from Latin 'modo' ('just now') into Medieval/Modern Latin 'modernus' and Old French 'moderne', then into English as 'modern'. 'Modernism' arose in the late 19th century to name new cultural movements; 'antimodernism' formed as a compound opposing those movements, especially in the late 19th to early 20th century.
Originally the parts meant 'against' + 'of the present' + 'doctrine/practice'; over time the compound came to mean specifically 'opposition to modernism or modernity' in artistic, cultural, and social senses.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
opposition to modernism in art, literature, architecture, and culture — a stance or movement resisting modernist styles and principles.
Antimodernism in early 20th-century art often rejected industrial themes and abstract forms.
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Noun 2
a broader social or intellectual tendency to reject modern ideas, technologies, or social changes; hostility toward aspects of modernization.
Some critics argue that antimodernism fuels resistance to useful technological change in society.
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Last updated: 2025/09/04 09:00