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Avant-garde: meaning, pronunciation and examples
Avant-garde adjective. New and experimental, pushing beyond what is accepted in art, music or ideas.
How to say it
av-on-GARD/ˌavɒ̃ˈɡɑːd/ · American /ˌɑːvɑːntˈɡɑːrd/
3 syllables, stressed on the third (GARD).
Avant-garde in a sentence
The gallery's avant-garde season included a piano played only with feathers.
What was dismissed as avant-garde noise in the sixties now soundtracks car adverts.
Similar and opposite
Similar:
- experimental
- innovative
- cutting-edge
- radical
Opposite:
- conventional
- traditional
Where avant-garde comes from
From French, literally the vanguard, the front line of an army.
Test yourself
Which word fills the gap?
What was dismissed as _____ noise in the sixties now soundtracks car adverts.
- avant-garde
- anaemic
- aleatory
Show the answer
avant-garde: What was dismissed as avant-garde noise in the sixties now soundtracks car adverts.