modernmod‧ern /ˈmɒdn $ ˈmɑːdərn/ ●●● S1 W1 adjective 
Such companies must change if they are to compete in the modern world. They are the youngest children in modern times to face murder charges. Smaller families are a feature of modern society. Computers are an essential part of modern life. a book about modern history The original supermarkets were small by modern standards.Modern Greek/Hebrew etc (=the form of the language used today)2made or done using the most recent designs or methods SYN up-to-date: A lot of progress has been made with the use of modern technology. advances in modern medicine modern surgical techniques► see thesaurus at new3[only before noun] modern art, music, literature etc uses styles that have been recently developed and are very different from traditional styles SYN contemporary: an exhibition of modern art modern dance4having very recent attitudes or ways of behaving SYN progressive OPP traditional: The school is very modern in its approach to sex education. → secondary modernCOLLOCATIONSnounsthe modern world· The island has hardly been affected by the modern world.modern society· In modern society, elderly relatives rarely live with their children.modern times· It was one of the greatest disasters of modern times.the modern age/era/period (=now, rather than in the past)· In the modern age, television is the main means of mass communication.modern life· These problems are a major part of modern life.modern man (=people today)· Modern man gets much less exercise in his daily life than his ancestors.modern history British English (=recent history, as a subject of study)· a degree in modern historymodern languages British English (=languages that are spoken today, as a subject of study)· French, German and other modern languagesthe modern equivalent of something (=something with the same importance or purpose as something from the past)· In their own minds they are the modern equivalent of highwaymen.THESAURUSmodern something that is modern uses the most recent designs or methods: · The house looks very modern.· the city’s modern public transportation systemthe latest [only before noun] the newest that is available: · The camera uses the latest digital technology.· the very latest mobile phones· the latest newsup-to-date using the most modern technology, ideas, information etc: · The hospital has the most up-to-date equipment in the country.newfangled [only before noun] informal modern – used when you disapprove of something and do not think it as good as the things that existed before: · He doesn’t believe in these new-fangled gadgets.high-tech, hi-tech using very advanced technology, especially electronic equipment and computers: · Modern tractors are full of high-tech equipment, including GPS.· It’s all very hi-tech.state-of-the-art using the newest and most advanced features, ideas, and materials that are available: · state-of-the-art technology· a state-of-the-art home entertainment system· The brand new arts centre is state-of-the-art.COLLOCATIONS CHECKthe latest technology/equipment/newsup-to-date equipment/information/book/mapnew-fangled device/contraption/gadgethigh-tech industry/company/equipmentstate-of-the-art technology/equipment
WORD ORIGINmodern
Origin:
1500-1600 Late Latin modernus, from Latin modo ‘just now’, from modus; ➔ MODEEXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- a modern computer network
- Doherty is a professor of modern European history.
- Drugs have become the plague of the modern world.
- He'll receive the most modern medical treatment.
- I don't like modern architecture at all.
- I like both modern dance and classical ballet.
- Many criticisms have been made of modern farming methods.
- Seattle has a very modern public transportation system.
- The company occupies a bright, modern office building in the heart of the city.
- the horrors of modern warfare
- The most compelling work in the modern British theater is being created in the smaller and non-profit theaters.
- The prince is known for his critical views of modern architecture.
- The pyramids are a remarkable piece of engineering, even judged by modern standards.
- They're a very modern couple -- he stays at home with the kids and she goes out to work.
- We want to create a modern and uncluttered look in the new kitchen.
- Your work was my first route into an understanding of modern art.
- In the mills additional factors have been rationalisation and the use of more modern machinery.
- The 1908 Act is an obsolete restriction that is not appropriate for modern mining methods.
- The root of the modern use of the term ideology lies with Marx.
- They will go anywhere in the world to research issues of concern to modern Christians.
THESAURUS
something that is modern uses the most recent designs or methods: · The house looks very modern.· the city’s modern public transportation system
[only before noun] the newest that is available: · The camera uses the latest digital technology.· the very latest mobile phones· the latest news
using the most modern technology, ideas, information etc: · The hospital has the most up-to-date equipment in the country.
[only before noun] informal modern – used when you disapprove of something and do not think it as good as the things that existed before: · He doesn’t believe in these new-fangled gadgets.
using very advanced technology, especially electronic equipment and computers: · Modern tractors are full of high-tech equipment, including GPS.· It’s all very hi-tech.
using the newest and most advanced features, ideas, and materials that are available: · state-of-the-art technology· a state-of-the-art home entertainment system· The brand new arts centre is state-of-the-art.
Longman Language Activatormodern machines/buildings/methods using new methods, designs, or equipment: · Seattle has a very modern public transportation system.· The company occupies a bright, modern office building in the heart of the city.· Many criticisms have been made of modern farming methods.· the horrors of modern warfare
the latest machines, computers, and methods are the newest and best ones that are available: · The car is equipped with all the latest gadgets.· The latest model can print 15 pages every minute.the latest in something (=the newest type of something): · You'll have a chance to try out the latest in kitchen equipment.the very latest: · The operation will be performed using the very latest microsurgery techniques.
up-to-date equipment, machines, or methods are very modern, and much better than the ones that many other people or organizations are still using: · The hospital has the most up-to-date equipment in Europe.· up-to-date training methods
something that is futuristic seems typical of things that will exist in the future, and often seems very exciting and unusual: · The futuristic sports stadium is the pride of the city.· The car, with its sleek futuristic styling, certainly looks impressive.
use this about machines, buildings etc that use the most modern designs, methods, technology etc: · The company recently moved to their new state-of-the-art building in central London.· Using state-of-the-art technology, scientists are able to pinpoint the exact age of archaeological finds.· Her latest indulgence is a luxury state-of-the-art yacht that she keeps at St Tropez.
modern art/literature/music/fashion modern art, literature, music etc uses styles that have been developed very recently and are deliberately different from traditional ones: · I like both modern dance and classical ballet.· Your work was my first route into an understanding of modern art.
contemporary art, music, literature etc was produced or written recently: · Composers like Philip Glass have made contemporary music more popular.· I'm not very impressed by the works of many contemporary artists.
the latest fashion, style, design etc is the one that is the most modern and the most fashionable: the latest fashion: · She assured me that big sweaters were the latest fashion.the latest in something (=the most fashionable type of something): · They stock the latest in designer footwear.
avant-garde art, music, literature etc is extremely modern and often strange or hard to understand because it is very different from previous styles: · Although she likes avant-garde music, Lydia also plays classical guitar and piano.· His paintings are rather too avant-garde for my tastes.· an exhibition of work by avant-garde artists and sculptors
modern ideas/ways of thinking having new ideas or attitudes, rather than traditional or old-fashioned ones: · They're a very modern couple -- he stays at home with the kids and she goes out to work.· The school is very modern in its approach to sex education.
using new methods to educate or bring up children, deal with social problems etc, especially when these methods are less strict than traditional ones: · She went to a progressive private school where the pupils could choose which lessons to attend.· the government's progressive policies for dealing with inner city problems
willing to use new and recently developed methods and ideas: · We like to think we're a forward-looking company that isn't afraid to use new ideas.· We need more forward-looking political thinking.
British always keen to use modern ideas and methods because you want to be successful: · Fortuna is a young, go-ahead computer company based in Düsseldorf.
to change your way of living or working so that you are using modern ideas, methods etc, even though you may not want to: · I'm not keen on having a mobile phone, but I suppose we must all move with the times.· This is a town that has changed with the times and now provides every vacation facility you could wish for.
to make something more modern to improve something, so that it includes the most modern equipment, methods, or information: · The school has just updated all its computer equipment.· Nursing staff were sent on training courses to update their skills.
also modernise British to make big changes to a place or organization, by putting in modern equipment or modern systems, and getting rid of old ones: · It was an old farmhouse that had been modernized by the previous owner.· Our aim was to modernize the health service, and we succeeded.
to get rid of any old-fashioned details or features that something has and add the newest ones that are available: · The system needs bringing up to date.· All the history textbooks we use have been revised and brought up to date.
existing, happening, or relating to now the present situation is the one that exists now; your present job, address etc is the one that you have now: · Arnaud lived in Los Angeles before moving to his present home in New York.· He warned that the present situation could get much worse.
use this about things or situations that exist now, when you think they may be changed in the future: · The existing building is too small, and there are plans to replace it within the next five years.· Many people feel that the existing law discriminates against women.
use this about a situation or activity which is happening now, but which is not expected to continue for a long time: · In the current economic situation, switching careers may not be such a good idea.· Coca-Cola's current advertising campaigncurrent level/rate/price: · The aim is to reduce current pollution levels in the Black Sea.· According to one economist, at the current growth rate, China will have the largest economy in the world by 2030.
use this about social, economic, or political conditions and attitudes that exist now, when you are comparing them with those that existed in the past: · The first computers were extremely slow by today's standards.· The teenagers of today have a different attitude to sex.
a present-day situation, fact, idea etc is one that exists now rather than in the past: · Modern-day equipment has made mining much safer than it was.· There is no modern-day racing driver who could be compared with Fangio.· Prussia reached its zenith in 1795, encompassing most of northern Germany and present-day Poland.
belonging to the present time or most recent time and not to the past: · I don't like modern architecture at all.· The pyramids are a remarkable piece of engineering, even judged by modern standards.· The most compelling work in the modern British theater is being created in the smaller and non-profit theaters.
contemporary art, writing, thought, society etc is the type that exists, is accepted, or belongs to, the present time: · Contemporary Indian cinema has its roots in folk culture.· the declining importance of religion in contemporary societies
a story, subject, problem etc that is topical is interesting because it deals with something that is important at the moment: · It's an old story but it has a topical message.· In the 1970s, he recorded topical songs about Watergate and the Vietnam War.· The editor thinks that if an article isn't topical it isn't worth publishing.
someone who exists now and is a very similar type of person as someone who existed in the past: · Romer portrayed himself as a latter-day Robin Hood who took money and gave it to the underprivileged.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRYnouns The play has become an American classic. a hotel with all the modern conveniences The rooms are furnished in a modern style.
· The island has hardly been affected by the modern world.
· In modern society, elderly relatives rarely live with their children.
· It was one of the greatest disasters of modern times.
(=now, rather than in the past)· In the modern age, television is the main means of mass communication.
· These problems are a major part of modern life.
(=people today)· Modern man gets much less exercise in his daily life than his ancestors.
British English (=recent history, as a subject of study)· a degree in modern history
British English (=languages that are spoken today, as a subject of study)· French, German and other modern languages
(=something with the same importance or purpose as something from the past)· In their own minds they are the modern equivalent of highwaymen.
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES (=from the 20th century until the present)· the technical and scientific achievements that ushered in the modern age
· Technology is one of the benefits of modern civilization.
The play has become an American classic. a hotel with all the modern conveniences· Computers are a part of modern culture.
· Many people were against such a modern design in the old city centre.
· The factory has some of the most up-to-date equipment available.
· Horror films are the modern-day equivalent of morality tales.
· a collection of romantic paintings from the Victorian era
· The country’s recent history is powerfully told in this film.
· Modern industry needs to be in places where there are good transport links.
(=languages that are spoken now)· The school has a good modern languages department.
(=people who lived at a particular stage of human development)
(=medicine based on science)· Thanks to modern medicine, these babies will survive.
(=methods used now, but not in the past)· Modern methods of solving crime depend a lot on forensic evidence.
· Is it a modern myth that we are living in a classless society?
· the modern obsession with celebrities' lives
· She finds modern poetry difficult.
· The Greeks formed the first advanced societies in the West.· This kind of hatred and violence have no place in a modern society like ours.
· The technology was crude by modern standards.
The rooms are furnished in a modern style.· The building was too modern for my taste.
· Archaeologists now use modern techniques such as aerial photography.
· People have no faith in new technology.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB· It is interested in MIG-31 high-altitude interceptors, more modern submarines and help in building aircraft carriers.· A more modern one is the prohibition of lotteries.· Ballantyne's style is old fashioned and Golding's is more modern and up to date.· Much more modern than anything else in the street, they were well designed and built in glossy red brick.· It will be given a sleeker, more modern look-again following the lead set by the latest R1150R.· Certainly, more modern uses of the survey method have disregarded some of the rather naive methodological assumptions of the early surveys.· The Kozloduy complex also includes two more modern 1,000-megawatt units.
· On Broadway they appreciated the benefits of the most modern theatres in the world.· Those with the most modern gear can land in zero visibility.· A modern ship with the most modern communications.· According to the most modern idea, a real myth has nothing to do with religion.· All metals are monitored during alloying and before despatch, using the most modern analytical equipment in their own laboratory.· In fact, our fleet is known to be the youngest and most modern of any major airline in the world.· This is within reach of most modern multimedia computers, but that power may not be available on older machines.
NOUN· Like football managers, conductors are a phenomenon of the modern age.· From this demotion, the modern age came to feel severed from cosmology as no other culture had ever felt before.· I don't think he's equipped for the modern age, quite frankly.· Over time, his story became emblematic of the spirit of the modern age.· And beyond these individuals, it raises the possibility of a Republican Party, tolerant and moderate, for the modern age.· From all this intellectual turbulence the modern age was born.· A society is being reborn, but one which does not articulate itself in the media of the modern age.· Was our modern age of triumph destined from the start to be tinged with despair?
· Between the wars the idea of modern architecture was a heroic adventure which could actually improve man's condition.· Now, thanks to modern architecture and a porous defense, neither is a problem.· The austerity and uniformity of much modern architecture made sculpture superfluous.· Contrary to one of the fantasies of modern architecture, brick and masonry buildings are far more flexible than concrete, steel-framed ones.· The current architectural debate has served to polarise popular opinion on modern architecture.· Why then should anyone want to conserve examples of modern architecture?· But here, similarly, Ancient architecture is humanist and modern architecture structuralist.· Charles's attacks on modern architecture made him a hero of the silent majority.
· Tamayo's insistence on using new materials to construct his prints is very much part of a long tradition in modern art.· Movies are the modern art form.· The primacy of the female nude as a motif of modern art, from Courbet to Kruger, is examined.· I asked why the history of modern art was structured in one way, along one mute, and not others?· What do you consider to have been Matisse's most important contribution to modern art?· My blood dripped on the ring floor and turned instantly black, merging with the modern art collage of other stains.· And when they pick apart the history of modern art, they attack modern art's most powerful institution.· It is these that modern art, and science, is seeking.
· Distinction does not provide a theory of either consumption or material culture as the form of modern culture.· For the civic culture is not a modern culture, but one that combines modernity with tradition.· Steiner and Sontag are in a sense correct about the centrality of homosexuality to modern culture.· Up to the present day, modern culture has been almost totally Alexandrian.· But modern culture is now proving to be vulnerable on two counts, one social, one intellectual.· Such inroads as modern culture made into the village tended to fortify this conviction.· In addition, use will be made of a series of articles concerning the nature of modern culture.· However, it is foolish to live with the denial of death, as modern culture tends to do.
· From a child she had taken ballet and modern dance lessons and was naturally drawn to Medau after seeing a lecture demonstration.· At one point Ronald was chasing me and I was pulling out all my modern dance technique.· Among their routines as they trip the light fantastic at the Dolphin Centre in Darlington are the old time and modern dances.· The fact that all the acts are the same couple of blokes is just the way it is in modern dance.· Now Alvin set about creating in earnest his groundbreaking modern dance repertory company.· He was more comfortable with the straight forward physicality of another kind of modern dance that Crumb showed him.
· I have already mentioned the influence of Barth in the modern day.· A modern day Gothic of such purity that it is almost a parody.· The 68K4 ... a modern day black beauty.· He shows the impact of history on his modern day characters.· They wanted to present a collage of what they had discovered in the format of a modern day local radio programme.· A modern day off-shoot of it.· The recipes though are the result of modern day trial and very lucky errors.· In a modern day Sleeping Beauty, set in New York, he wakes a medieval princess with a kiss.
· Here, then, at the opening of the modern era, we have a quite well developed doctrine of popular sovereignty.· I prefer a rendezvous without any reminders of the modern era at all, but there can be some leeway.· And, in this modern era, the squad sessions are not restricted to instruction on technique.· In a sense, the modern era of fusion research dates from that measurement in 1969.· Carl Lewis of the modern era has won eight.· In the modern era, players of their calibre would surely have followed the professional trail.· In the modern era, most families must send both parents into the workforce to make ends meet.
· He was educated at Winchester and Trinity College, Oxford, where he obtained a second class in modern history in 1911.· Equally ironic was the fact that four years earlier Johnson had won the biggest percentage of the popular vote in modern history.· The modern history of the Catholic Church has been immensely affected by that chain of events.· And in 1951 Great Britain, for the first time in modern history, made leprosy a reportable disease.· Early modern history: Political, economic and social history and the history of science.· The United States is the most peaceful, least warlike nation in modern history.· The rest is miserable modern history.· This may have been the first time in modern history that a painting incited people to such public agitation.
· Our modern language and our modern writing have grown out of the language and literature of the past.· This word, which was originally borrowed from a Celtic language, has been lost in the modern language.· The now voluminous literature on modernism and postmodernism has been dominated by philosophers and modern language theorists and historians of architecture.· The last group was used in secondary schools and in the modern language institute in Tunis.· Parents and teachers are largely in agreement in terms of supporting the most recent developments in modern languages in schools.· And the importance of modern language teaching will be very much greater.· The Nuffield modern languages survey has not yet reported and the only available account is an interim report from 1985.
· The hustle and bustle of modern life occurs in the shadow of history.· Freund is likewise recognized for his fascinating revelations on modern life using juxtapositions of subliminally connected images.· Though these problems are a characteristic feature of modern life, they have been with us for a very long time.· Singles may be peripheral in a sense; but their experience is central to the enigmas of modern life.· These arguments provide the foundation for Simmel's account of the contradictory nature of modern life.· Visitors know we made concessions to modern life.· We think of the desert of modern life with the concentration on material possessions and its resultant poverty.· All concerns about modern life were supposedly resolved by National Socialism.
· But it feels that the modern men have expanded comics, made them somehow more artistic.· The only sign of modern man from horizon to horizon is the road we followed in.· In these and other ways the implicatures of the title are developed, suggesting connections between modern man and the Neanderthalers.· One can write about the past, but from the point of view of a modern man.· A high regard for ivory has been part of the human heritage since the first appearance of modern man.· Who could blame modern woman if she yearns for something more civilized than modern man?· I still don't enjoy going to the dentist but I have to admit that the modern men are wonderful.· Now suddenly I understood the tragedy of modern man.
· The concerns of older people about their future health care probably reflect beliefs about modern medicine and priorities within the medical profession.· Underscoring this notion is the fact that other diseases continue to go unnoticed under the very nose of modern medicine.· In a way, though, that limited him and made him out of touch with modern medicine.· However, it was found in nearly all those cancer patients whom modern medicine could not help.· The clinical application of devices or materials which contact blood is of major importance in modern medicine.· Similarly, the rise of modern medicine developed at the expense of midwives and village healers, most of whom were women.· Are these rules unsuited to modern medicine?· Of enormous importance, Holmes: all the hopes of modern medicine depend upon it.
· It becomes a term whose reference is linguistic and whose meaning is not determined by the phenomenon of the early modern period.· The gradual assimilation of oppositional art into institutional orthodoxy represents one of the failed utopias of the modern period.· This construction of the artist as hero is a primary marker of the modern period.· It rapidly became a staple, and has remained the major crop throughout the modern period.· The modern period has left its mark too, literally.· In the modern period some cycles or groups have also found their way into museums.· But in the modern period, prestigious spaces had been found in which to celebrate machines.· Governmental pluralism was not of course peculiar to the early modern period.
· On the other hand, modern science was used to list a new vocabulary of transgression.· His proposal can not succeed without undermining the whole of modern science.· For this reason he had encouraged Claudia to enter these new, modern sciences.· Fanatical, uncultured leaders, little versed in modern science, can not give us a solution.· Indeed, it has been an outstandingly successful theory and underlies nearly all of modern science and technology.· Viewed through this ideological lens, all of nature appeared to yield to the triumphant structure of knowledge that was modern science.· Those who accept the general orientation of modern science may well find considerable difficulty in coming to grips with this main point.· The way of the glaciers allowed him to fuse traditional creationism with the insights of modern science.
· The source for the basic difference in taste is traced by Bourdieu to the different experiences of these classes in modern society.· The Romantics had raised the alarm about the disintegration in modern society of much that is essential to the full human experience.· Undoubtedly many of the apprehensions about mental handicap stem from the nature of modern society with its emphasis on achieving and competition.· He observes, Those of us socialized in modern societies generally maintain an irrationally uncritical attitude toward new technologies.· In modern societies, by contrast, direct symbolic violence between subjects declines.· The varied strata of modern society present numerous challenges to surveillance.· The dominant groups in modern societies, whose definition of reality is accepted, are not necessarily non-neurotic in Freud's sense.· He has suggested that the socially held beliefs of modern society are qualitatively different from those of previous societies.
· Outside school - and maritime mishaps - community life was restricted when compared to modern standards.· Such systems were usually, by modern standards, inequitable, exploitive, rigid, and inefficient.· Boxers fought an enormous number of contests by modern standards to satisfy a working-class public who wanted to see regular bouts.· Will these peoples continue to live in poverty and disease, or will they be brought up to modern standards of living?· Many early child-rearing practices were barbarous by modern standards.· While slow by modern standards, it was considered fast in 1985.· Although of limited accuracy by modern standards, the Scuds were reasonably successful at hitting large targets such as urban settlements.
· The solid financial foundations required by a modern state had not been laid by 1603.· But, at the same time, the apparatus of the modern State imposed a new order which strictly limited such freedom.· Ever since the emergence of the modern state Tilly et al. 1975.· But it would be highly destabilising for any modern state.· The analytical techniques available to the bureaucracies of modern states are increasingly sophisticated.· It is the provision of welfare, however, which distinguishes the modern state from previous states.
· Daniel Hersheson then set to work on Pamela's hair, cutting it into a more tailored and modern style.· Magnet's wide choice of kitchen units includes traditional and modern styles, and prices to fit any budget.· A.R. What do you feel about working in the more modern style of play after your classical work with Stratford?· Classic and modern styles, glowing with lights, colour, and gilding.· Modern style After studying the above ballets it may well be asked what is modern style?· Each is furnished in a modern style with private facilities and at least one balcony.· He led Coffin to a bright back kitchen, furnished in the most modern style, with new canary-yellow paint.
· It's the age old battle of traditional skills versus modern technology.· By using and learning about the hardware and software, developing country professionals will become familiar with a variety of modern technologies.· They are quicker-thinking and have a grasp of modern technology.· The arts, too, have been transformed by modern technology, though to a lesser extent than industry.· The younger generation is used to Computer Assisted Learning and other modern technology which is an adjunct to learning.· Its industries could not have failed to be impressive, since they have benefited from the latest advances of modern technology.· It is modern technology all wrapped up without the cable to trip over, and the restriction of power point locations.· Given modern technology, firms can be flexible vis-a-vis the market and vis-a-vis government plans.
· This decision goes a long way towards demonstrating the untenability of the marital-rape exemption in modern times.· On the street, amid the detritus of modern times, he was unknown.· If we think those ancient people were silly, we should look to ourselves in modern times.· It had never happened before, not in modern times.· Again, in modern times office-staff attend to all calls and enquiries; who would, or could, breach these defences?· But computerised turnstile operations have made it almost impossible to fiddle the attendance figures in modern times.· It has been restored but not altered a great deal in modern times.· In modern times, the demands we make have changed in some ways.
· This effect is well established empirically and is dealt with by all modern versions of the standard associative model.· Today, modern versions of windmills, called wind turbines, are used to create electricity.· And out of this fascination with man two modern versions of him are born.· Sun saloon 10, a modern version of the old cross-bench car, upon delivery in 1939.· The modern versions of Taylorism are expressed in terms of job design and work study.· They are, ironically, the modern version of the church of the Middle Ages.
· As a criticism of the modern world, Fantasia of the Unconscious is a book to keep at hand and re-read.· The development of printing was one of the most important events in the making of our modern world.· Mathematics is becoming increasingly important in its applications and uses in the modern world.· We shall lead up to it by starting where the modern world began, with the scientific revolution.· This latest act of outrage reminds us of one of the great burdens of the modern world.· Who is kidding whom that a middle-size country such as the United Kingdom is sovereign in the modern world?· These groups have apparently been isolated from other humans for long periods of time and have no knowledge of the modern world.
WORD FAMILYnounmodernitymodernizationmodernismmodernistmodernitymodernizermodernizationadjectivemodernmodernistmodernisticverbmodernize
1[only before noun] belonging to the present time or most recent time SYN contemporary: Such companies must change if they are to compete in the modern world. They are the youngest children in modern times to face murder charges. Smaller families are a feature of modern society. Computers are an essential part of modern life. a book about modern history The original supermarkets were small by modern standards.Modern Greek/Hebrew etc (=the form of the language used today)2made or done using the most recent designs or methods SYN up-to-date: A lot of progress has been made with the use of modern technology. advances in modern medicine modern surgical techniques► see thesaurus at new3[only before noun] modern art, music, literature etc uses styles that have been recently developed and are very different from traditional styles SYN contemporary: an exhibition of modern art modern dance4having very recent attitudes or ways of behaving SYN progressive OPP traditional: The school is very modern in its approach to sex education. → secondary modernCOLLOCATIONSnounsthe modern world· The island has hardly been affected by the modern world.modern society· In modern society, elderly relatives rarely live with their children.modern times· It was one of the greatest disasters of modern times.the modern age/era/period (=now, rather than in the past)· In the modern age, television is the main means of mass communication.modern life· These problems are a major part of modern life.modern man (=people today)· Modern man gets much less exercise in his daily life than his ancestors.modern history British English (=recent history, as a subject of study)· a degree in modern historymodern languages British English (=languages that are spoken today, as a subject of study)· French, German and other modern languagesthe modern equivalent of something (=something with the same importance or purpose as something from the past)· In their own minds they are the modern equivalent of highwaymen.THESAURUSmodern something that is modern uses the most recent designs or methods: · The house looks very modern.· the city’s modern public transportation systemthe latest [only before noun] the newest that is available: · The camera uses the latest digital technology.· the very latest mobile phones· the latest newsup-to-date using the most modern technology, ideas, information etc: · The hospital has the most up-to-date equipment in the country.newfangled [only before noun] informal modern – used when you disapprove of something and do not think it as good as the things that existed before: · He doesn’t believe in these new-fangled gadgets.high-tech, hi-tech using very advanced technology, especially electronic equipment and computers: · Modern tractors are full of high-tech equipment, including GPS.· It’s all very hi-tech.state-of-the-art using the newest and most advanced features, ideas, and materials that are available: · state-of-the-art technology· a state-of-the-art home entertainment system· The brand new arts centre is state-of-the-art.COLLOCATIONS CHECKthe latest technology/equipment/newsup-to-date equipment/information/book/mapnew-fangled device/contraption/gadgethigh-tech industry/company/equipmentstate-of-the-art technology/equipment