aesthete

American  

[es-theet, ees-] / ˈɛs θit, ˈis- /

noun

1. a person who has or professes to have refined sensitivity toward the beauties of art or nature.

   Synonyms:

   connoisseur

2. a person who affects great love of art, music, poetry, etc., and indifference to practical matters.

   Synonyms:

   dilettante

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aesthete British  

/ ˈiːsθiːt /

noun

1. a person who has or who affects a highly developed appreciation of beauty, esp in poetry and the visual arts

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Other Word Forms

• hyperaesthete
  noun

Etymology

Origin of aesthete

1880–85; < Greek aisthētḗs one who perceives, equivalent to aisthē- (variant stem of aisthánesthai to perceive) + -tēs noun suffix denoting agent

Explanation

Someone who claims to be concerned only with matters of art and beauty is known as an aesthete. Depending on the way he goes about it, he might also be known as a snob. The Greeks considered an aisthētḗs as "one who feels." It's from this idea of emotional sensitivity that the word aesthete came about in the late 19th century as a noun for someone who greatly appreciates beauty and the arts. An aesthete doesn’t have to be a wealthy individual or an art-academy graduate. You're as much of an aesthete if you're going about your business and happen to absorb a strain of Beethoven as much as the poet who writes about the splendor of a leaf.

Example Sentences

Aesthetes had been howling about the Freedom 250 set, a soaring, 92-foot tall structure which resembled one of those arcade machine claws in which you try and fail to grab a stuffed hippopotamus.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 15, 2026

Aesthetes visiting after a year’s absence will find an abundance of eye candy in neighborhoods like TriBeCa, Chelsea and the Lower East Side.

From New York Times • May 3, 2024

Aesthetes likely served as the basis for the two kinds of eyes that did evolve in some of these animals: the more complex shell eyes and the more numerous eyespots.

From Science Daily • Mar. 4, 2024

Aesthetes and skeptics have been flocking to the Leeum Museum in the affluent Hannam neighborhood of Seoul, South Korea, since the “WE” exhibit opened in January.

From Los Angeles Times • May 2, 2023

Unlike the dandies of the Georgian era, they pretended to no classic taste and, wholly contemptuous of the Aesthetes, recognised no art save the art of dress.

From The Works of Max Beerbohm by Beerbohm, Max, Sir