aestheticism

[ es-thet-uh-siz-uhm or, especially British, ees- ]
See synonyms for aestheticism on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. the acceptance of artistic beauty and taste as a fundamental standard, ethical and other standards being secondary.

  2. an exaggerated devotion to art, music, or poetry, with indifference to practical matters.

  1. a late Victorian movement in British and American art characterized by a dedicatedly eclectic search for beauty and by an interest in old English, Japanese, and classical art.

Origin of aestheticism

1
First recorded in 1855–60; aesthetic + -ism

Words Nearby aestheticism

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

How to use aestheticism in a sentence

  • It is a custom that is instinctively condemned by everyone from the standpoint of both hygiene and aestheticism.

    Encyclopedia of Diet | Eugene Christian

British Dictionary definitions for aestheticism

aestheticism

sometimes US estheticism

/ (iːsˈθɛtɪˌsɪzəm, ɪs-) /


noun
  1. the doctrine that aesthetic principles are of supreme importance and that works of art should be judged accordingly

  2. sensitivity to beauty, esp in art, music, literature, etc

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