minimalism

minimalism — noun

1. a way of making art, music, design, or theatre that keeps only the most basic fo

1.nounB2
Definition

a way of making art, music, design, or theatre that keeps only the most basic forms and removes anything unnecessary

Example

The gallery's new exhibit shows how minimalism changed American sculpture in the 1960s.

passive structure: how minimalism changed [field]

Reema's apartment follows the rules of minimalism, with bare floors and simple furniture.

collocation: follows the rules of minimalism

Common collocations
  • Japanese minimalism
  • Scandinavian minimalism
  • architectural minimalism
  • musical minimalism
  • practice minimalism
  • embrace minimalism
Synonyms
  • simplicity

    broader term; minimalism is a deliberate artistic/lifestyle philosophy, while simplicity can describe any uncomplicated thing

  • restraint

    focuses on the discipline of holding back from excess, whereas minimalism is a defined style or approach

  • sparseness

    emphasises emptiness or wide spacing; carries a more neutral or even negative tone than minimalism

Antonyms
  • maximalism

    the opposite approach that embraces abundance, bold patterns, and layered detail

  • ornamentation

    the practice of adding decorative elements, directly contrary to minimalism's stripping-away principle

Grammar Patterns

often followed by in + field (in art, in design, in music)

Usage Note

Uncountable noun. Frequently used with a domain prepositional phrase (in art, in design, in architecture, in music) to specify the field.

Common Mistakes

He lives a minimalism lifestyle.
He lives a minimalist lifestyle.
'minimalism' is a noun; use 'minimalist' as the adjective form.
Minimalism means you have no things.
Minimalism means keeping only what is essential.
minimalism is about intentional reduction, not absence.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Minimalism, simplicity, restraint, sparseness, and austerity all describe a reduction of elements, but they differ in context and connotation. Minimalism is the most specific: it names a deliberate artistic movement or lifestyle philosophy that consciously removes the non-essential. Simplicity is broader — any uncomplicated object or idea can be simple, whether or not the reduction was intentional. Restraint focuses on the discipline of holding back; a restrained design uses minimal ornament because the designer chose not to add more, not necessarily because less-is-more was the guiding principle. Sparseness emphasises the resulting wide spacing or emptiness and can carry a slightly negative or lonely feel (a sparse room vs. a minimalist room). Austerity implies severe plainness often due to necessity or moral principle rather than aesthetic choice. For example, a minimalist home is intentionally bare and clean, whereas an austere home might feel uncomfortably empty.

simplicity ↗restraint ↗sparsenessausterity ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

  • architecturally
  • musically
  • visually

Phrases

  • school of minimalism
  • era of minimalism

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinEnglish

Coined in English in the 1960s from minimal (from Latin minimus, 'smallest, least') plus the suffix -ism, which forms nouns naming a doctrine, system, or movement. The term was first used by art critics to describe a new generation of American sculptors and painters who rejected the emotional excess of Abstract Expressionism in favour of stark, repetitive, geometric forms.