avant-gardeadjectiveCollocations from the corpusActivator 1Word sets 1Phrases from this entryOther dictionary examplesCorpus examplesavant-gardeavant-gardeav‧ant-garde /EŒ?¦vE’?‹ EˆE?E‘E?dâ—‚ $ EŒ?¦vE‘E??‹ EˆE?E‘E?rdâ—‚/ adjectiveDate: 1900-2000 Language: French Origin: â€?vanguard’ 1MODERNavant-garde music, literature etc is extremely modern and often seems strange or slightly shocking: an avant-garde play2the avant-gardeMODERN the group of artists, writers etc who produce avant-garde books, paintings etc: a member of the avant-garde