dil·et·tante
Audio Help [dil-i-tahnt, dil-i-tahnt, -tahn-tey, -tan-tee] Pronunciation Key noun, plural -tantes, -tan·ti
Audio Help [-tahn-tee] Pronunciation Key, adjective
—Related forms
Audio Help [dil-i-tahnt, dil-i-tahnt, -tahn-tey, -tan-tee] Pronunciation Key noun, plural -tantes, -tan·ti
Audio Help [-tahn-tee] Pronunciation Key, adjective –noun
–adjective
| 1. | a person who takes up an art, activity, or subject merely for amusement, esp. in a desultory or superficial way; dabbler. |
| 2. | a lover of an art or science, esp. of a fine art. |
| 3. | of or pertaining to dilettantes. |
—Related forms
dil·et·tan·tish, dil·et·tan·te·ish, adjective
—Synonyms 1. amateur.
| Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006. |
dilettante
To learn more about dilettante visit Britannica.com
| © 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. |
| dil·et·tante
Audio Help (dĭl'ĭ-tänt', dĭl'ĭ-tänt', -tän'tē, -tānt', -tān'tē) Pronunciation Key
n. pl. dil·et·tantes also dil·et·tan·ti (-tän'tē, -tān'-)
adj. Superficial; amateurish. [Italian, lover of the arts, from present participle of dilettare, to delight, from Latin dēlectāre; see delight.] dil'et·tan'tish adj., dil'et·tan'tism n. |
| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
dilettante
1733, borrowing of It. dilettante "lover of music or painting," from dilettare "to delight," from L. delectare (see delight). Originally without negative connotation, "devoted amateur," the pejorative sense emerged late 18c. by contrast with professional.
| Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper |
| dilettante | |
adjective | |
| 1. | showing frivolous or superficial interest; amateurish; "his dilettantish efforts at painting" |
noun | |
| 1. | an amateur who engages in an activity without serious intentions and who pretends to have knowledge [syn: dabbler] |
| WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University. |
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.
[Chapter:] Fine Arts
| The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
Dilettante
De*light"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Delighted; p. pr. & vb. n. Delighting.] [OE. deliten, OF. delitier, deleitier, F. d['e]lecter, fr. L. delectare to entice away, to delight (sc. by attracting or alluring), intens. of delicere to allure, delight; de- + lacere to entice, allure; cf. laqueus a snare. Cf. Delectate, Delicate, Delicious, Dilettante, Elicit, Lace.] To give delight to; to affect with great pleasure; to please highly; as, a beautiful landscape delights the eye; harmony delights the ear. Inventions to delight the taste. --Shak. Delight our souls with talk of knightly deeds. --Tennyson.| Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. |
dilettante
dilettante was Word of the Day on September 3, 2000.
| Dictionary.com Word of the Day |
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