noun · 3 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.
General-American:/pəʊstˈmɑdɚnɪzəm/
US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
CMU ARPABET:P OW2 S T M AA1 D ER0 N IH2 Z AH0 M
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
Any style in art, architecture, literature, philosophy, etc., that reacts against an earlier modernist movement.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable, usually
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
An attitude of skepticism or irony toward modernist ideologies, often questioning the assumptions of Enlightenment rationality and rejecting the idea of objective truth.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable, usually
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
genre of art and literature and especially architecture in reaction against principles and practices of established modernism
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: genre
History
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *pós Proto-Indo-European *-ti Proto-Indo-European *pósti Proto-Italic *posti Old Latin poste Latin post English post- English modern 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 modernism English postmodernism From post- + modernism.
Across languages
Translations
58 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Albanian:
postmodernizëm
— a style of art, literature, etc
Armenian:
պոստմոդեռնիզմ
(postmodeṙnizm)
— a style of art, literature, etc
Bulgarian:
постмодерни́зъм
(postmodernízǎm)
— a style of art, literature, etc
Catalan:
postmodernisme
— a style of art, literature, etc
Chinese Cantonese:
後現代主義 /后现代主义
(hau6 jin6 doi6 zyu2 ji6)
— a style of art, literature, etc
Chinese Cantonese:
后现代主义
(hau6 jin6 doi6 zyu2 ji6)
— a style of art, literature, etc
Chinese:
後現代主義 /后现代主义
(āu-hiān-tāi-chú-gī)
— a style of art, literature, etc
Chinese Mandarin:
後現代主義 /后现代主义
(hòuxiàndàizhǔyì)
— a style of art, literature, etc
Czech:
postmoderna
— a style of art, literature, etc
Danish:
postmodernisme
— a style of art, literature, etc
Dutch:
postmodernisme
— a style of art, literature, etc
Esperanto:
postmodernismo
— a style of art, literature, etc
Estonian:
postmodernism
— a style of art, literature, etc
Finnish:
postmodernismi
— a style of art, literature, etc
French:
post-modernisme
— a style of art, literature, etc
French:
postmodernisme
— a style of art, literature, etc
Galician:
posmodernismo
— a style of art, literature, etc
Georgian:
პოსტმოდერნიზმი
(ṗosṭmodernizmi)
— a style of art, literature, etc
German:
Postmoderne
— a style of art, literature, etc
German:
Postmodernismus
— a style of art, literature, etc
Greek:
μεταμοντερισμός
(metamonterismós)
— a style of art, literature, etc
Hebrew:
פוסטמודרניזם
— a style of art, literature, etc
Hindi:
उत्तर-आधुनिकतावाद
(uttar-ādhuniktāvād)
— a style of art, literature, etc
Hungarian:
posztmodern
— a style of art, literature, etc
Icelandic:
póstmódernismi
— a style of art, literature, etc
Indonesian:
posmodernisme
— a style of art, literature, etc
Interlingua:
postmodernismo
— a style of art, literature, etc
Irish:
iarnua-aoiseachas
— a style of art, literature, etc
Italian:
postmodernismo
— a style of art, literature, etc
Japanese:
ポストモダニズム
(posutomodanizumu)
— a style of art, literature, etc
Kazakh:
постмодернизм
(postmodernizm)
— a style of art, literature, etc
Korean:
포스트모더니즘
(poseuteumodeonijeum)
— a style of art, literature, etc
Northern Kurdish:
postmodernîzm
— a style of art, literature, etc
Limburgish:
Posmodernisme
— a style of art, literature, etc
Lithuanian:
postmodernizmas
— a style of art, literature, etc
Macedonian:
постмодерни́зам
(postmodernízam)
— a style of art, literature, etc
Malay:
postmodenisme
— a style of art, literature, etc
Malayalam:
ഉത്തരാധുനികത
(uttarādhunikata)
— a style of art, literature, etc
Māori:
angatuahoutanga
— a style of art, literature, etc
Norwegian Bokmål:
postmodernisme
— a style of art, literature, etc
Norwegian Nynorsk:
postmodernisme
— a style of art, literature, etc
Persian:
پسانوگرایی
— a style of art, literature, etc
Polish:
postmodernizm
— a style of art, literature, etc
Portuguese:
pós-modernismo
— a style of art, literature, etc
Romanian:
postmodernism
— a style of art, literature, etc
Russian:
постмодерни́зм
(postmodɛrnízm)
— a style of art, literature, etc
Serbo-Croatian:
постмодернизам
— a style of art, literature, etc
Serbo-Croatian:
постмодерна
— a style of art, literature, etc
Serbo-Croatian:
postmodernizam
— a style of art, literature, etc
Serbo-Croatian:
postmoderna
— a style of art, literature, etc
Slovak:
postmoderna
— a style of art, literature, etc
Spanish:
postmodernidad
— a style of art, literature, etc
Spanish:
posmodernismo
— a style of art, literature, etc
Swedish:
postmodernism
— a style of art, literature, etc
Tamil:
பின்நவீனத்துவம்
(piṉnavīṉattuvam)
— a style of art, literature, etc
Turkish:
postmodernizm
— a style of art, literature, etc
Ukrainian:
постмодерні́зм
(postmodernízm)
— a style of art, literature, etc
Vietnamese:
trường phái hậu hiện đại
— a style of art, literature, etc
