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.

---

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

---

Etymology

Origin of art form

First recorded in 1865–70

Example Sentences

Comedian Carly Smallman said art form recognition for comedy would open up support routes available to other creative industries.

From BBC • Apr. 4, 2026

But at the tail end of his monologue, O’Brien assured viewers that the Oscars exist to honor cinema as an art form, not for the Hollywood industrial complex patting itself on the back.

From Salon • Mar. 16, 2026

At the ceremony, Zane, a governor on the Academy’s casting-directors branch, will be among those in attendance watching for what the first winner will signal about how the art form is judged.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 13, 2026

Zaman was inspired by the Japanese art form kirigami, like origami but instead of merely folding paper to achieve a 3D shape, kirigami also involves cutting.

From BBC • Mar. 3, 2026

They have made an art form out of grammatical yet unparsable sentences: The horse raced past the barn fell.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker