art form

American  

noun

1. the more or less established structure, pattern, or scheme followed in shaping an artistic work.

   The sonata, the sonnet, and the novel are all art forms.

2. a medium for artistic expression.

   ballet, sculpture, opera, and other art forms.

3. a medium other than the artistic regarded as having highly developed or systematized rules, procedures, or formulations.

   international diplomacy regarded as an art form.

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art form British  

noun

1. a conventionally established form of artistic composition, such as the symphony or the sonnet

2. a recognized medium of artistic expression

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Etymology

Origin of art form

First recorded in 1865–70

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

art form

Editing is traditionally a solitary art form, its practitioners working after shooting has wrapped to assemble the story from the captured footage.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026

Netflix and other streamers have already split the film industry down the middle, separating those who venerate the art form from those who venerate the dollar, leaving many Hollywood titans flailing somewhere in the middle.

From Salon ● Jul. 15, 2026

The two performances sold well—the second completely—and a large, enthusiastic black audience turned out, a significant achievement for an art form that often has difficulty attracting a diverse public.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026

He got what he wanted at first, but opera companies everywhere are struggling, this being an outrageously expensive art form.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2026

By the mid-fifteenth century, Western music was a dynamic, confident art form.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall