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

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

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

“The Devil Wears Prada” was a heaping dose of wish-fulfillment, but it was also the very movie that carefully and artfully elucidated the values of magazines and fashion, emphasizing the art form of both.

From Salon • May 6, 2026

The dress code for the gala is Fashion Is Art, with guests invited to explore their relationship to fashion as an embodied art form and celebrate depictions of the dressed body throughout art history.

From BBC • May 3, 2026

“It was my dad’s idea. He says it’s a new art form he just invented.”

From "The Egypt Game" by Zilpha Keatley Snyder