1. An early 20th-century avant-garde art movement characterized by deliberate irrationality, absurdity, and rejection of traditional aesthetic values.
Usage: Often capitalized when referring to the historical movement; Associated with World War I and the 1920s; Influenced visual art, literature, music, and performance

Examples

• Dadaism emerged in Zurich during World War I as a radical protest against societal norms.
• Artists involved in dadaism created nonsensical works to challenge the meaning of art itself.
• The movement's embrace of chance and absurdity made dadaism a precursor to surrealism.
• Marcel Duchamp's readymades became iconic examples of dadaism's irreverent approach.
• Dadaism rejected logic and reason in favor of spontaneity and anti-art sentiment.