modern
adjective · noun
Simple meaning
About a current or recent time and style.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
mahdernSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈmɑdɚn
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
Pertaining to a current or recent time and style; not ancient.
history
Pertaining to the modern period (c.1800 to contemporary times), particularly in academic historiography.
noun
Someone who lives in modern times.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner (estimated)
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Pertaining to a current or recent time and style; not ancient.
Used this way, modern is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in historical writing contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where it naturally appears
- Historical writing
Nearby words
- ultramodern , rarer, so it draws attention
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use modern
- “This building features a very modern and sleek design.”adjective
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Similar Words, What’s the Difference?
Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.
Characteristic of or influenced by a current popular trend or style.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
An artist who makes a deliberate break with previous styles.
The quality of being current or of the present.
Genre of art and literature that makes a self-conscious break with previous genres.
Make repairs, renovations, revisions or adjustments to.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Any of various styles of jazz that appeared after 1940.
Subspecies of Homo sapiens.
The circumstances and ideas of the present age.
The circumstances and ideas of the present age.
A style of ballet that admits a wider variety of movements.
A style of theatrical dancing that is not as restricted as classical ballet.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
Making modern in appearance or behavior.
Making modern in appearance or behavior.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.