art
1the quality, production, expression, or realm of things that conform to accepted aesthetic principles of beauty, show imagination and skill, and have more than ordinary meaning and importance: Art is a characteristic human activity.My parents and I disagree about what qualifies as art.
the class of objects that meet or are subject to aesthetic criteria; objects considered beautiful, imaginative, skillful, and meaningful collectively, such as paintings, sculptures, or drawings: The palace houses a remarkable collection of art.The local museum of art currently has a special exhibit of the works of Kurelek.: See also fine art, commercial art.
the visual or fine arts collectively, often excluding architecture: She dabbled in art, including painting and sculpture.
the arts, the fine arts together with literature and the performing arts: I attended a high school that emphasized the arts, and I took every drama course I could.There never seems to be enough public funding for the arts.
a field, genre, or category of creative, imaginative, skilled activity that meets or is subject to aesthetic criteria: Poetry and dance are arts.
any craft or field of creative activity applying aesthetic principles, skill, and technique: She does graphic art for an advertising company.
arts,
the cluster of academic disciplines dealing with art, literature, languages, philosophy, etc., as distinct from the natural and social sciences and the technical or professional fields; the humanities: He teaches in the College of Arts and Sciences.There are fewer opportunities these days for graduates with a degree in arts.
the humanities together with the natural and social sciences, as opposed to the professional and technical fields; liberal arts: Are you at the Faculty of Arts, or at one of the professional faculties?
a branch of learning or university study, especially one of the fine arts or the humanities, such as music, philosophy, or literature: We attended a brilliant lecture on the role of the arts of philosophy and rhetoric in expanding knowledge.
: See also term of art.
the principles, techniques, or methods governing any craft, trade, or profession: the art of baking;the art of selling.
the craft, trade, or profession using these principles, techniques, or methods.
skill in conducting any human activity: You are a master at the art of conversation!From my mother, I learned the art of making perfectly cooked pasta.
skilled workmanship, execution, or agency, as distinguished from nature:Do these shrubs in your garden owe their shape to art or to nature?
(in printed matter) illustrative or decorative material: Is there any art with the copy for this story?
trickery or cunning, or an instance of this: Don’t be taken in by their devious art.She is adept at the innumerable arts and wiles of politics.
pretense or artificiality in behavior: He had a manner free of art and affectation.
Archaic. science, learning, or scholarship.
art up, to improve the aesthetic quality of (something) through some form of art: This dress is so plain, it could use some arting up.I had an interior designer art up my apartment.
Origin of art
1Other words for art
10 | knack, facility, technical skill, skillfulness, know-how |
9a | craft, technique, skill; procedure, method, way; fine points, subtleties |
13 | craftiness, guile, slyness, wiliness, artfulness, intrigue, machination, scheming; contrivance, scheme, trick, tactic, stratagem, maneuver, subterfuge, ruse, dodge, feint, wile |
14 | deceit, deception, duplicity, imposture, falsehood |
Opposites for art
Other definitions for art (2 of 6)
Origin of art
2Other definitions for Art (3 of 6)
a male given name, form of Arthur.
Other definitions for ART (4 of 6)
article: often used to represent the class of determiners, including words such as this, that, and some as well as the articles a, an, and the.
Other definitions for -art (5 of 6)
variant of -ard: braggart.
Other definitions for art. (6 of 6)
plural arts. article; articles.
artificial.
artillery.
artist.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use art in a sentence
“I never felt that culture and the arts were separate from politics,” he says.
DJ Spooky Wants You To Question Everything You Know About Music, Technology, and Philosophy | Oliver Jones | December 27, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTLater, he transferred to the School of Visual Arts in New York City after developing an interest in filmmaking.
Renaissance Man Jared Leto Defies Categorization | The Daily Beast | December 8, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTIts reporting and commentary on politics, society, and arts and letters have nurtured a broad liberal spirit in our national life.
Facebook Prince Purges The New Republic: Inside the Destruction of a 100-Year-Old Magazine | Lloyd Grove | December 5, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTShe attended a multicultural performing arts school and swam competitively.
Walking Dead’s Danai Gurira Vs. Boko Haram | Kristi York Wooten | November 30, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTAs a former arts teacher, she feels compelled to help the now-hysterical young boy.
The first commencement of Union College for conferring degrees in the arts and sciences.
The Every Day Book of History and Chronology | Joel MunsellBelle Ringold was very shrewd, young as she was, in the arts of gaining and holding the attention of young men.
The Campfire Girls of Roselawn | Margaret PenroseAmong the ancients, the tools which served in the arts were few in number, and these of exceeding simplicity.
Outlines of the Earth's History | Nathaniel Southgate ShalerHe served as physician, as well as priest and school-master, and practised and taught the most useful domestic arts.
Journal of a Voyage to Brazil | Maria GrahamLike all racial beauties, bred by selection, she needed the arts of dress and furnishings to frame her.
Ancestors | Gertrude Atherton
British Dictionary definitions for art (1 of 4)
/ (ɑːt) /
the creation of works of beauty or other special significance
(as modifier): an art movement
the exercise of human skill (as distinguished from nature)
imaginative skill as applied to representations of the natural world or figments of the imagination
the products of man's creative activities; works of art collectively, esp of the visual arts, sometimes also music, drama, dance, and literature
excellence or aesthetic merit of conception or execution as exemplified by such works
any branch of the visual arts, esp painting
(modifier) intended to be artistic or decorative: art needlework
any field using the techniques of art to display artistic qualities: advertising art
(as modifier): an art film
journalism photographs or other illustrations in a newspaper, etc
method, facility, or knack: the art of threading a needle; the art of writing letters
the system of rules or principles governing a particular human activity: the art of government
artfulness; cunning
get something down to a fine art to become highly proficient at something through practice
Origin of art
1- See also arts
British Dictionary definitions for art (2 of 4)
/ (ɑːt) /
archaic (used with the pronoun thou) a singular form of the present tense (indicative mood) of be 1
Origin of art
2British Dictionary definitions for ART (3 of 4)
assisted reproductive technology
British Dictionary definitions for -art (4 of 4)
a variant of -ard
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
Other Idioms and Phrases with art
see fine art; state of the art.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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