ultra-modern

ultra-modern — adjective

1. featuring the newest designs, technologies, or concepts — so advanced that it re

1.adjectiveB2
Definition

featuring the newest designs, technologies, or concepts — so advanced that it reflects the most progressive ideas or styles of the present time.

Example

The Lakan team designed an ultra-modern office building with glass walls and solar panels.

collocation: ultra-modern + [building/design/architecture]

Mira's kitchen was ultra-modern, with touch-screen appliances and smart lighting.

Common collocations
  • ultra-modern building
  • ultra-modern design
  • ultra-modern kitchen
  • ultra-modern architecture
  • ultra-modern technology
  • ultra-modern office
  • ultra-modern furniture
Synonyms
  • cutting-edge

    focuses more on technological innovation and being ahead of competitors

  • state-of-the-art

    emphasises the use of the latest available technology, slightly more formal

  • futuristic

    suggests a design that looks like something from the future, sometimes with a sci-fi feel

  • avant-garde

    used mainly for art, music, or fashion that is experimental and ahead of its time

Antonyms
  • old-fashioned

    suggests something that belongs to or reminds one of an earlier period

  • outdated

    implies the technology or style is no longer current or useful

  • traditional

    describes something that follows long-established customs or styles rather than new trends

Usage Note

Common in descriptions of architecture, interior design, and technology. Can be used both before a noun (an ultra-modern kitchen) and after linking verbs (the design is ultra-modern).

Common Mistakes

This smartphone is ultra-modern.
This smartphone is very modern.
Use 'ultra-modern' only when the design truly pushes beyond the usual; for everyday objects 'very modern' or 'state-of-the-art' is more natural.
My friend bought an ultra dress.
My friend bought an ultra-modern dress.
'Ultra' by itself is not a free-standing adjective in English; it must attach to the word it modifies.

Word family

  • modern
    adjectiveA2
  • modernize
    verbB2
  • modernization
    nounB2
  • modernity
    nounC1
  • modernism
    nounC1
  • modernist
    nounC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

All four words describe things that are ahead of the ordinary, but they differ in focus. Cutting-edge emphasises being at the very forefront of innovation, especially in technology or science (a cutting-edge medical procedure). State-of-the-art is more formal and stresses the use of the best available technology at the present time (state-of-the-art navigation equipment). Futuristic suggests a design that looks like it belongs in a science-fiction future, sometimes at the expense of practicality (a futuristic car with doors that open upward). Avant-garde is reserved for art, music, fashion, or literature that breaks established rules and experiments with new forms (an avant-garde film with no dialogue). Ultra-modern sits between these: it describes something that is unmistakably of the present day but in the most advanced way possible, without the sci-fi implication of futuristic or the experimental edge of avant-garde.

cutting-edgestate-of-the-artfuturisticavant-garde

Common collocations

Nouns

Etymology

LatinEnglish

Formed by combining the prefix 'ultra-' (from Latin 'ultra', meaning 'beyond' or 'on the far side of') with the adjective 'modern' (from Late Latin 'modernus', based on Latin 'modo' meaning 'just now'). So ultra-modern literally means 'beyond modern' — so new or advanced that it goes past what is currently considered modern.