art form
Americannoun
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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.
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a medium for artistic expression.
ballet, sculpture, opera, and other art forms.
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a medium other than the artistic regarded as having highly developed or systematized rules, procedures, or formulations.
international diplomacy regarded as an art form.
noun
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a conventionally established form of artistic composition, such as the symphony or the sonnet
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a recognized medium of artistic expression
Etymology
Origin of art form
First recorded in 1865–70
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A new vanguard—led by the beer-swilling redneck Stone Cold Steve Austin—would bring the art form into the modern age by embracing bad taste.
From Slate • Jun. 11, 2026
These connections made anime and martial arts cinema’s incorporation into hip-hop, an art form built on collaboration and sonic collage, somewhat inevitable.
From Salon • May 31, 2026
Anime watchers who start young tend to stick with the art form into adulthood, unlike other media popular with teenagers.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 8, 2026
Around that time, Chambers fully delved into pursuing mastery of an art form buried under a century.
From Los Angeles Times • May 6, 2026
No explicit objectives in the art form are articulated.
From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.