acmeism means A literary movement in early twentieth-century Russia, reacting against symbolism and concerned with greater immediacy in poetic language. It carries an Arena rating of 1306, earned across 18 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, acmeism ranks #3,643 of 17,151 for The Improbable, #4,718 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words, #4,746 of 17,149 for Most Exacting Words, #6,009 of 17,104 for Most Storied Words.
acmeism is pronounced /ˈæk.miː.ɪz.əm/.
Why “acmeism” is a great word
ACMEISM — [Noun] An early twentieth-century Russian literary movement reacting against symbolism by emphasizing clarity, materiality, and immediacy in poetic language. From Russian акмеи́зм (akmeízm), from Ancient Greek ἀκμή (akmḗ, "peak, highest point") + Russian -изм (-izm, "-ism"). Unlike Symbolism, which dissolves the tangible in a haze of mystic suggestion, or Futurism, which rejects the past for a clamorous, technological future, Acmeism sought a poetry of tangible precision. It is the exact weight of a stone in the hand, the clear geometry of a cathedral’s arch, and the specific taste of bread as bread—a defiant conviction that the highest point of art is to see the world, in all its adamant, concrete detail, utterly.
Etymology
From Russian акмеи́зм (akmeízm), from Ancient Greek.
noun
- A literary movement in early twentieth-century Russia, reacting against symbolism and concerned with greater immediacy in poetic language.e.g.“A manifestation of Russian modernism that comprised those who had “overcome” symbolism, acmeism represents a facet of 20th-century Russian literature without a direct predecessor in Europe.” — 2013, Jonathan Stone, “Acmeism”, in Historical Dictionary of Russian Literature, Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, page 9:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- acmeist 75% match — Of or pertaining to Acmeism, a transient poetic school in Russia in the early 1900s. vs acmeism →
- acmatic 58% match — Relating to the acme of something; highest. vs acmeism →
- poetism 55% match — An avantgarde approach to art introduced by Karel Teige in Czechoslovakia in the 1920s in reaction to the prevailing proletarian art, encouraging lyricism and an epicurean attitude. vs acmeism →
- metarealism 53% match — A direction in Russian poetry and art that was born in the 1970s to the 1980s, synonymous to metaconscience, which means beyond psychological consciousness, beyond a subjective psychological polarized view of reality. vs acmeism →
- alogism 51% match — An early 20th century movement in painting and writing, emerging from the Russian avant-garde, which made use of antirational or nonsensical elements. vs acmeism →
- acroatics 51% match — acroamatics. vs acmeism →
- pushkinism 51% match — The literary style of Alexander Pushkin (Russian: Алекса́ндр Пу́шкин, 1799–1837), Russian author of the Romantic era. vs acmeism →
- antisymbolism 50% match — Opposition to symbolism. vs acmeism →