dilettante

[ dil-i-tahnt, dil-i-tahnt, -tahn-tey, -tan-tee ]
See synonyms for dilettante on Thesaurus.com
noun,plural dil·et·tantes, dil·et·tan·ti [dil-i-tahn-tee]. /ˈdɪl ɪˈtɑn ti/.
  1. a person who takes up an art, activity, or subject merely for amusement, especially in a desultory or superficial way; dabbler.

  2. a lover of an art or science, especially of a fine art.

adjective
  1. of or relating to dilettantes.

Origin of dilettante

1
1725–35; <Italian, noun use of present participle of dilettare<Latin dēlectāre to delight

Other words for dilettante

Other words from dilettante

  • dil·et·tan·tish, dil·et·tan·te·ish, adjective

Words Nearby dilettante

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use dilettante in a sentence

  • He had dropped in in a dilettante spirit to hear the spirited debate, and the judges were greatly honored.

    Through the Wall | Cleveland Moffett
  • With increase of reading we have fallen into a fireside, dilettante culture of ideas as an intellectual pleasure.

    More Pages from a Journal | Mark Rutherford
  • Do not suspect that I impose on you the task of writing letters to answer my dilettante questions.

  • I believe this to be the test to distinguish the mere dilettante from the artist of real genius.

    The Aesthetical Essays | Friedrich Schiller

British Dictionary definitions for dilettante

dilettante

/ (ˌdɪlɪˈtɑːntɪ) /


nounplural -tantes or -tanti (-ˈtɑːntɪ)
  1. a person whose interest in a subject is superficial rather than professional

  2. a person who loves the arts

adjective
  1. of or characteristic of a dilettante

Origin of dilettante

1
C18: from Italian, from dilettare to delight, from Latin dēlectāre

Derived forms of dilettante

  • dilettantish or dilettanteish, adjective
  • dilettantism or dilettanteism, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for dilettante

dilettante

[ (dil-uh-tahnt, dil-uh-tahnt) ]


Someone who is interested in the fine arts as a spectator, not as a serious practitioner. Dilettante is most often used to mean a dabbler, someone with a broad but shallow attachment to any field.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.