Make Your Point: AVANT-GARDE

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pronounce AVANT-GARDE:

ov ont GARD

connect this word to others:

The term avant-garde is French for "advanced guard." We've kept it as-is in English, but we've also derived another English term from it, one that means "the section of an army that's out in the very front, leading and guarding the others; or more figuratively, the first people to make progress in some new movement." Can you recall that one? It's v__g____.

(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)

definition:

"Avant-garde" literally means "the advance guard: the fighters out in front, or the ones scoping things out secretly before the fight begins." This term came into English from French in the late 1400s. At first, we used its literal meaning.

But in the nineteenth century, in politics, art, and literature, we applied the term to certain new ideas and new movements that shook things up, did things totally differently, and seemed ahead of their time.

So, in a narrow sense, we use "avant-garde" to describe those specific political and artistic movements and works from the nineteenth century. And in a wider sense, we use it to describe anything that seems new, creative, edgy, and daring.

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

Often an adjective: "their avant-garde approach."

Also a noun: "They belong to the avant-garde."

Other forms:

The artists and other creators who create bold new things are "avant-gardists." (Or as we saw above, more generally, those people are "the avant-garde.")

And if you need a noun for the idea, or for the movement itself, that's "avant-gardism."

how to use it:

When you want a fancy, positive term for bold creators and their bold creations, one that emphasizes how they're way out ahead of the establishment, very far from the mainstream, call them avant-garde.

You might talk about avant-garde people, talent, style, performances, art, theater, film, fashion, magazines, and so on.

examples:

"Land art was then at the cutting edge of avant-garde activity. By 1970, sculptors Christo and Jeanne-Claude had just wrapped a million square-feet of coastal Australia in tarpaulin lashed with rope. Robert Smithson had bulldozed dirt and rocks to build a spiral jetty coiling out into Utah's Great Salt Lake. Michael Heizer had dug a huge trench across Mormon Mesa near Overton, Nev., making a sculptural object out of empty space."
— Christopher Knight, Los Angeles Times, 9 October 2025

"Just like a circus act, an avant-garde food menu is designed to elicit laughter and gasps in alternation—and sometimes in combination. I once had a three-hour dinner at Alinea... The very first course, a butternut squash puree, was served inside a block of ice. A thick glass straw was the only utensil provided."
— Ken Jennings, Planet Funny, 2018

has this page helped you understand "avant-garde"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this term, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "avant-garde" without saying "groundbreaking" or "ahead of its time."

try it out:

Toward the end of Ralph Ellison's novel Invisible Man, the narrator, a Black man living in the United States in the 1930s, accepts that society has always treated him horribly because of his race, saying to himself and to the reader:

"I'm an invisible man and it placed me in a hole—or showed me the hole I was in, if you will—and I reluctantly accepted the fact. What else could I have done? Once you get used to it, reality is as irresistible as a club, and I was clubbed into the cellar before I caught the hint. Perhaps that's the way it had to be; I don't know. Nor do I know whether accepting the lesson has placed me in the rear or in the avant-garde."

Could you explain what he means by that last sentence? What might be avant-garde (new, daring, edgy, revolutionary, ahead of his time) about accepting his own unfairly low position in society? And in your opinion, does this acceptance "place [the narrator] in the rear or in the avant-garde," or both, or neither?

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game this month is "What Are You Implying?"

Build your word-finding muscle as you reach for synonyms for various implications.

For example, what's a synonym for "living thing" that
1. ...implies that someone made it?
2. ...implies that it simply exists?
3. ...implies that it has an intangible essence?

Your answers could be 1. "creature," 2. "being," and 3. "soul."

Try these today:

What's a synonym for "lively" that
1. ...implies that something bounces or floats?
2. ...implies that something makes sweet little birdlike sounds?
3. ...implies that something has the mischievous energy of an elf or fairy?

To see some possible answers, scroll all the way down.

review this word:

1. The opposite of AVANT-GARDE could be

A. OPEN or INVITING.
B. SAVORY or ENTICING.
C. PASSÉ or OUTMODED.

2. In Middlesex, Jeffrey Eugenides describes an "avant-garde touch, _____."

A. the founders' writing desks still laid with fountain pens and licorice drops
B. a thick wire extended from Miss Baker’s head, at the top of which hovered the object of wonder: a hummingbird
C. the building with its long echoing hallways and churchy smell, its leaded windows, its Gothic gloom

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.

I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.

From my blog:
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From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.

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