: of or relating to abstract painting characterized by geometric forms with clearly defined boundaries

Examples of hard-edge in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
For The Mandarin, Gagliardi and Booth wanted to reference two things; the earth art at the Hopewell Culture in Circleville, Ohio, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the abstract painting of hard-edge modernist painter, Ellsworth Kelly, whose artwork is on view at the Museum of Modern Art. Nadja Sayej, Forbes.com, 28 May 2025 Image Her early New York work was similar to Mr. Wesley’s — hard-edge and minimal, but representational, and funny, with allusions to gender politics. Will Heinrich, New York Times, 26 Jan. 2025 What Team Northeast's saying: Philly's too hard-edge to be anything but Northeast. Isaac Avilucea, Axios, 11 Dec. 2024 Constructed of flat, hard-edge but usually curving slabs of color, the compositions evoke mysterious interiors or extreme close-ups. Mark Jenkins, Washington Post, 5 July 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1961, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of hard-edge was in 1961

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Cite this Entry

“Hard-edge.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hard-edge. Accessed 14 Sep. 2025.

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