Definition of: modernism

(mod′ərn·iz′əm) noun
1. Something characteristic of modern as distinguished from former or classical times; a modern idiom or practice.
2. Modern character, methods, or mental attitude.
3. The humanistic tendency in religious thought to supplement old theological creeds and dogmas by new scientific and philosophical learning and thus to place emphasis on practical ethics and world–wide social justice: distinguished from fundamentalism.
—mod′ern·ist noun
—mod′ern·is′tic adjective