1
a
: of, relating to, or characteristic of the present or the immediate past : contemporary
the modern American family
b
: of, relating to, or characteristic of a period extending from a relevant remote past to the present time
modern history
2
: involving recent techniques, methods, or ideas : up-to-date
modern methods of communication
3
capitalized
: of, relating to, or having the characteristics of the present or most recent period of development of a language
Modern English
Synonyms
Examples of modern in a Sentence
Adjective
Water pollution is a growing problem in the modern world.
He's known as the father of modern medicine.
The English that was spoken by William Shakespeare is very different from the modern English spoken today.
She is learning Modern Greek.
They live in one of the most modern cities in the world.
modern methods of communication including e-mail and the Internet
She cut her long hair for a modern look.
He made his old-fashioned apartment look more modern by changing the color of the walls and buying new furniture.
Their latest movie is a modern version of a classic children's story.
She has modern ideas about dating and marriage.
Noun
the leaders of the American suffragists were originally regarded by many people as uppity moderns who should have stayed in their place
Recent Examples on the Web
Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 8 Nov. 2024
Second, the refusal to see how profoundly distasteful so much of modern liberalism has become to so much of America.
—Bret Stephens, The Mercury News, 7 Nov. 2024
Victoria Montalti, refinery29.com, 28 Oct. 2024
Heidegger followed in a long line of German intellectuals, going as far back as the eighteenth century, who believed that the country was destined to play a transformative role in human history -- a kind of modern rejoinder to the creative glory of ancient Greece.
—Gregory Fried, Foreign Affairs, 17 Oct. 2014
See all Example Sentences for modern 
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Adjective
The movie’s true set pieces are the professorial villain’s ostentatious monologues using fast food, musical plagiarism, and Monopoly as metaphors to point out how modern religions are just conspicuous iterations of what’s come before.
—Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 8 Nov. 2024
Second, the refusal to see how profoundly distasteful so much of modern liberalism has become to so much of America.
—Bret Stephens, The Mercury News, 7 Nov. 2024
Noun
See: modern takes on corsetry, delicate embellishments, and dramatic overlays.
—Victoria Montalti, refinery29.com, 28 Oct. 2024
Heidegger followed in a long line of German intellectuals, going as far back as the eighteenth century, who believed that the country was destined to play a transformative role in human history -- a kind of modern rejoinder to the creative glory of ancient Greece.
—Gregory Fried, Foreign Affairs, 17 Oct. 2014
See all Example Sentences for modern
Articles Related to modern
Dictionary Entries Near modern
Cite this Entry
“Modern.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/modern. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
modern
1 of 2 adjective
mod·ern
ˈmäd-ərn 
1
: of, relating to, or characteristic of the present or the recent past
2
: of or relating to the period from about 1500 to the present
modern history
Modern English
modern
2 of 2 noun
: a person of modern times or ideas
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share