avant garde

5 antonyms for avant garde — opposites grouped by meaning.

Adjective — Strikingly new and experimental, especially in art, music, fashion or film, and ahead of what most people are used to.

Synonyms by Meaning

1. adjective

Strikingly new and experimental, especially in art, music, fashion or film, and ahead of what most people are used to.

“The gallery has a reputation for avant garde video work.”

experimental innovative radical cutting-edge unorthodox

Opposites

conventional traditional conservative

2. noun

The artists, writers or thinkers whose work breaks with established forms and points the way for others.

“He spent the 1960s on the fringes of the literary avant garde.”

vanguard innovators trailblazers

Opposites

establishment mainstream

Antonyms

conventional traditional conservative establishment mainstream

How to use avant garde

The word patterns that sound natural to a native speaker.

avant-garde art avant-garde cinema the literary avant-garde distinctly avant-garde

Usually written with a hyphen, avant-garde, and often kept in italics in older texts. It can be admiring or faintly mocking depending on tone.

Etymology

From French avant-garde 'advance guard', the troops sent ahead of the main army, from avant 'before' and garde 'guard'.

Full origin of avant garde →

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between avant garde and modern art?

Modern art names a broad historical period, roughly the 1860s to the 1970s, and includes work that was widely accepted in its day. Avant garde describes a stance rather than a period: art that deliberately breaks with prevailing conventions, which can happen in any era.

How do you pronounce avant garde?

Roughly av-on-GARD, keeping the French nasal in the first syllable and leaving the final e silent. English speakers commonly say a flatter av-ont-GARD, which is perfectly acceptable.

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traditional conservative establishment radical conventional experimental mainstream innovative vanguard unorthodox

Nearby words

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