Standard Lemma guide

minimalism

noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈmɪnɪməlɪzəm/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /ˈmɪn.ə.məl.ɪz.əm/
  • General-American: [ˈmɪn.ə.mɫ̩.ɪz.m̩]
  • CMU ARPABET: M IH1 N AH0 M AH0 L IH2 Z AH0 M Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A style of art that emphasises extreme simplicity of form.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: art, arts

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A style of music that emphasises extreme simplicity of rhythms and melodic forms to achieve a trancelike effect.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: entertainment, lifestyle, music

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

Of simple living, the intentional reduction of material possessions and distractions.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

an art movement in sculpture and painting that began in the 1950s and emphasized extreme simplification of form and color

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: minimal art, reductivism

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: artistic movement, art movement

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English minimum English -al English minimal Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Indo-European *-mos Proto-Indo-European *-mós Ancient Greek -μός (-mós) Ancient Greek -ισμός (-ismós)der. English -ism English minimalism From minimal + -ism.

Across languages

Translations

35 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: minimalisme — style of art
  • Chinese Mandarin: {{t+|1=cmn|2=極簡主義|tr=jíjiǎn zhǔyì}} — style of art
  • Czech: minimalismus — style of art
  • Dutch: minimalisme — style of art
  • Esperanto: minimumismo — style of art
  • Finnish: minimalismi — style of art
  • French: minimalisme — style of art
  • Greek: μινιμαλισμός (minimalismós) — style of art
  • Hungarian: minimalizmus — style of art
  • Irish: íostachas — style of art
  • Italian: minimalismo — style of art
  • Polish: minimalizm — style of art
  • Portuguese: minimalismo — style of art
  • Russian: минимали́зм (minimalízm) — style of art
  • Spanish: minimalismo — style of art
  • Swedish: minimalism — style of art
  • Tagalog: minimalismo — style of art
  • Ukrainian: мінімалі́зм (minimalízm) — style of art
  • Welsh: minimaliaeth — style of art
  • Catalan: minimalisme — style of music
  • Czech: minimalismus — style of music
  • Dutch: minimalisme — style of music
  • Esperanto: minimumismo — style of music
  • Greek: μινιμαλισμός (minimalismós) — style of music
  • Hungarian: minimalizmus — style of music
  • Irish: íostachas — style of music
  • Italian: minimalismo — style of music
  • Polish: minimalizm — style of music
  • Portuguese: minimalismo — style of music
  • Russian: минимали́зм (minimalízm) — style of music
  • Spanish: minimalismo — style of music
  • Swedish: minimalism — style of music
  • Tagalog: minimalismo — style of music
  • Ukrainian: мінімалі́зм (minimalízm) — style of music
  • Welsh: minimaliaeth — style of music
Real reading context

minimalism in complete knowledge articles