modernity
The quality or condition of being modern; the social, cultural, and economic conditions that arose in the post-medieval world.
Modernity refers not just to the present time, but to a specific historical period characterized by industrialization, rationalization, and the rise of the nation-state.
Word relationships
- contemporaneity: Focuses purely on existing at the same time, whereas modernity implies a specific set of historical values.
- modernness: A more general term for the state of being modern, often lacking the deep sociological connotations of modernity.
- traditionalism: The adherence to traditional beliefs and practices, often in opposition to modern changes.
- antiquity: Refers to the ancient past, particularly the period before the Middle Ages.
Commonly confused with
- modernism: Modernism is an artistic and cultural movement, while modernity is the social and historical condition that produced it.
Word family
- modern (adjective): relating to the present or recent times
- modernize (verb): to adapt to modern needs or habits
Collocations
- early modernity
- liquid modernity
- challenges of modernity
- embrace modernity
Example sentences
- "Modernity is the transient, the fleeting, the contingent; it is one half of art, the other being the eternal and the immovable." Artistic critique of the modern era. (Charles Baudelaire, The Painter of Modern Life)
- "The rapid pace of modernity often leaves traditional institutions struggling to remain relevant." Sociological analysis of social change.
Memory hook
Think of 'Mode' (fashion) and 'Now'—Modernity is the 'Mode of Now' on a massive social scale. The Mode of Now.
When not to use
Avoid using it simply to mean 'newness' in a casual context; 'modernity' implies a broader sociological framework.
Fun facts
- The term was first used in a sociological sense by Ferdinand Tönnies and Max Weber to describe the shift from 'community' to 'society'.
- Baudelaire is credited with coining the term in an aesthetic context in 1863.
Related words
Explore more words
modernization, modernize, industrial, industrialized, rationalism, postmodern
Also appears in
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