dilettante

American  

[dil-i-tahnt, dil-i-tahnt, -tahn-tey, -tan-tee] / ˈdɪl ɪˌtɑnt, ˌdɪl ɪˈtɑnt, -ˈtɑn teɪ, -ˈtæn ti /

noun

dilettantes, plural dilettanti plural

1. a person who takes up an art, activity, or subject merely for amusement, especially in a desultory or superficial way; dabbler.

   Synonyms:

   amateur

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

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adjective

1. of or relating to dilettantes.

dilettante British  

/ ˌdɪlɪˈtɑːntɪ /

noun

1. a person whose interest in a subject is superficial rather than professional

2. a person who loves the arts

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adjective

1. of or characteristic of a dilettante

dilettante Cultural  

1. 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.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• dilettantish
  adjective
• dilettanteish
  adjective
• dilettantism
  noun

Inflected Forms

noun

• dilettantes
  plural
• dilettanti
  plural

Etymology

Origin of dilettante

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

Explanation

Though dilettante might sound like a nice French word, don't use it on your friend who thinks he can play the guitar after several short lessons. A dilettante is an amateur, often one who pretends to be very knowledgeable. The meaning of dilettante has changed since it was borrowed from the Italian in the mid 1700s. Originally, it meant "lover of the arts," but began to take on a negative slant as the idea of doing something as a professional took hold strongly during the 18th century. A dilettante was a mere lover of art as opposed to one who did it professionally. Today, the word implies you're pretending to be more of an artist than you're interested in or capable of being, so if you call your friend who likes to paint a dilettante, it's like you're calling him or her a poser.

Example Sentences

A few years ago the violinist Neufeld and the bass and tenor saxophone player Stetson performed a small gig at Dilettante, an art space in industrial downtown.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 25, 2015

If winter-triggered nightmare isn't enough of a draw, there's also dessert served with each show — from Sugar Rush this weekend, and Dilettante the next.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 21, 2011

Dilettante Smith, by then a corpulent old man, played at the game of dangling his inheritance before a group of younger followers.

From Time Magazine Archive

Accomplished Dilettante Lartigue was given his first camera in 1901 at age seven, and immediately began to illustrate his diary.

From Time Magazine Archive

And now from their midst the Dilettante stalks abroad.

From The Gentle Art of Making Enemies by Whistler, James McNeill

Related Words

• connoisseur