An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics
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1) Modern spirit or character.
2) Modern usage, expression, or trait.
3) In early 20th century art, literature, and architecture, a movement characterized by the use of unconventional subject matter and style, experimental technique, etc.

→ modern + → -ism.

Any of a number of trends or styles in architecture, philosophy, literature, and art developed in the latter part of the 20th century often in reaction to → modernism. In philosophy, postmodernists claim that value systems are concoctions of human partial knowledge rather than systems reflecting universal objective truth. The most influential early postmodern philosophers include Jean Baudrillard, Jean-François Lyotard, and Jacques Derrida.

The term postmodernism was first coined by architects to designate an architectural response against the earlier Bauhaus style, which was characterized by box-like apartment buildings, the absence of ornamentation and harmony between the function of a building and its design; → post- + → modernism.