Postmodernism - Definitions from Dictionary.com

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

post·mod·ern·ism

Audio Help [pohst-mod-er-niz-uh

m] Pronunciation Key

–noun

(sometimes initial capital letter

) any of a number of trends or movements in the arts and literature developing in the 1970s in reaction to or rejection of the dogma, principles, or practices of established modernism, esp. a movement in architecture and the decorative arts running counter to the practice and influence of the International Style and encouraging the use of elements from historical vernacular styles and often playful illusion, decoration, and complexity.

[Origin: 1970–75; post- + modernism

]

—Related forms

post·mod·ern·ist, noun, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Postmodernism

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

post·mod·ern Audio Help (pōst-mŏd'ərn) Pronunciation Key
adj. Of or relating to art, architecture, or literature that reacts against earlier modernist principles, as by reintroducing traditional or classical elements of style or by carrying modernist styles or practices to extremes: "It [a roadhouse]is so architecturally interesting . . . with its postmodern wooden booths and sculptural clock" (Ruth Reichl).

post·mod'ern·ism n., post·mod'ern·ist adj. & n.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

postmodernism
noun
genre of art and literature and especially architecture in reaction against principles and practices of established modernism

American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
postmodernism

A movement, particularly in architecture, that reacted against the pared-down modern school by reintroducing classical and traditional elements of style. An example of this style is Philip Johnson's AT&T Building in New York City.

[Chapter:] Fine Arts

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