art
1the quality, production, expression, or realm of things that conform to accepted aesthetic principles of beauty, show imagination and skill, and have more than ordinary meaning and importance: Art is a characteristic human activity.My parents and I disagree about what qualifies as art.
the class of objects that meet or are subject to aesthetic criteria; objects considered beautiful, imaginative, skillful, and meaningful collectively, such as paintings, sculptures, or drawings: The palace houses a remarkable collection of art.The local museum of art currently has a special exhibit of the works of Kurelek.: See also fine art, commercial art.
the visual or fine arts collectively, often excluding architecture: She dabbled in art, including painting and sculpture.
the arts, the fine arts together with literature and the performing arts: I attended a high school that emphasized the arts, and I took every drama course I could.There never seems to be enough public funding for the arts.
a field, genre, or category of creative, imaginative, skilled activity that meets or is subject to aesthetic criteria: Poetry and dance are arts.
any craft or field of creative activity applying aesthetic principles, skill, and technique: She does graphic art for an advertising company.
arts,
the cluster of academic disciplines dealing with art, literature, languages, philosophy, etc., as distinct from the natural and social sciences and the technical or professional fields; the humanities: He teaches in the College of Arts and Sciences.There are fewer opportunities these days for graduates with a degree in arts.
the humanities together with the natural and social sciences, as opposed to the professional and technical fields; liberal arts: Are you at the Faculty of Arts, or at one of the professional faculties?
a branch of learning or university study, especially one of the fine arts or the humanities, such as music, philosophy, or literature: We attended a brilliant lecture on the role of the arts of philosophy and rhetoric in expanding knowledge.
: See also term of art.
the principles, techniques, or methods governing any craft, trade, or profession: the art of baking;the art of selling.
the craft, trade, or profession using these principles, techniques, or methods.
skill in conducting any human activity: You are a master at the art of conversation!From my mother, I learned the art of making perfectly cooked pasta.
skilled workmanship, execution, or agency, as distinguished from nature:Do these shrubs in your garden owe their shape to art or to nature?
(in printed matter) illustrative or decorative material: Is there any art with the copy for this story?
trickery or cunning, or an instance of this: Don’t be taken in by their devious art.She is adept at the innumerable arts and wiles of politics.
pretense or artificiality in behavior: He had a manner free of art and affectation.
Archaic. science, learning, or scholarship.
art up, to improve the aesthetic quality of (something) through some form of art: This dress is so plain, it could use some arting up.I had an interior designer art up my apartment.
Origin of art
1Other words for art
| 10 | knack, facility, technical skill, skillfulness, know-how |
| 9a | craft, technique, skill; procedure, method, way; fine points, subtleties |
| 13 | craftiness, guile, slyness, wiliness, artfulness, intrigue, machination, scheming; contrivance, scheme, trick, tactic, stratagem, maneuver, subterfuge, ruse, dodge, feint, wile |
| 14 | deceit, deception, duplicity, imposture, falsehood |
Opposites for art
Words Nearby art
Other definitions for art (2 of 6)
Origin of art
2Other definitions for Art (3 of 6)
a male given name, form of Arthur.
Other definitions for ART (4 of 6)
article: often used to represent the class of determiners, including words such as this, that, and some as well as the articles a, an, and the.
Other definitions for -art (5 of 6)
variant of -ard: braggart.
Other definitions for art. (6 of 6)
plural arts. article; articles.
artificial.
artillery.
artist.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use art in a sentence
The smaller notebook options would make great travel art journals.
Notable notebooks for writing and drawing | PopSci Commerce Team | September 17, 2020 | Popular-ScienceOn some level, it’s an indication that “art is reflecting the times,” Renz says.
‘Antebellum’ tackles the past head on in an effort to ‘move forward’ | radmarya | September 17, 2020 | FortuneThis week, Folger Theatre is premiering its virtual project “Encores,” an initiative to help provide more online content for the community while most arts institutions remain closed during the pandemic.
D.C. theater scene adapts with films, concerts, and more | Patrick Folliard | September 17, 2020 | Washington BladeI learned to love the art of the search, the stories emerging from decomposing seats, revealing lost glasses and keys.
Dawn of the Heliocene - Issue 90: Something Green | Summer Praetorius | September 16, 2020 | NautilusThis social art is generally lost during months of drinking at home, unless you have company, but the pandemic had forbidden even that possibility, and weeknight drinking alone became an alarming habit.
The pulps brought new readers to serious fiction, making it less intimidating with alluring art and low prices.
Cold War fears could be manipulated through misleading art to attract readers to daunting material.
In “Steal This Episode,” the filmmaker denounces Homer Simpson as an “enemy of art.”
Here’s the Lost Judd Apatow ‘Simpsons’ Episode, Penned by Judd Apatow | Asawin Suebsaeng | January 6, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTBut those watching Selma were judging a work of cinematic art.
Dr. King Goes to Hollywood: The Flawed History of ‘Selma’ | Gary May | January 2, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTI spent time yesterday listening to the music you made, and looking at the art you created.
Dear Leelah, We Will Fight On For You: A Letter to a Dead Trans Teen | Parker Molloy | January 1, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTWoman is mistress of the art of completely embittering the life of the person on whom she depends.
Pearls of Thought | Maturin M. BallouMany of these have been seen in the Corcoran art Gallery and in other public exhibitions.
Women in the fine arts, from the Seventh Century B.C. to the Twentieth Century A.D. | Clara Erskine ClementAdequate conception of the extent, the variety, the excellence of the works of art here heaped together is impossible.
Glances at Europe | Horace GreeleySo it commands the other sciences in all the wonderful and hidden things of nature and art (pp. 510-511).
The Mediaeval Mind (Volume II of II) | Henry Osborn TaylorWhile residing in Brussels these two artists began to collect works of art for what is now known as the Mesdag Museum.
Women in the fine arts, from the Seventh Century B.C. to the Twentieth Century A.D. | Clara Erskine Clement
British Dictionary definitions for art (1 of 4)
/ (ɑːt) /
the creation of works of beauty or other special significance
(as modifier): an art movement
the exercise of human skill (as distinguished from nature)
imaginative skill as applied to representations of the natural world or figments of the imagination
the products of man's creative activities; works of art collectively, esp of the visual arts, sometimes also music, drama, dance, and literature
excellence or aesthetic merit of conception or execution as exemplified by such works
any branch of the visual arts, esp painting
(modifier) intended to be artistic or decorative: art needlework
any field using the techniques of art to display artistic qualities: advertising art
(as modifier): an art film
journalism photographs or other illustrations in a newspaper, etc
method, facility, or knack: the art of threading a needle; the art of writing letters
the system of rules or principles governing a particular human activity: the art of government
artfulness; cunning
get something down to a fine art to become highly proficient at something through practice
Origin of art
1- See also arts
British Dictionary definitions for art (2 of 4)
/ (ɑːt) /
archaic (used with the pronoun thou) a singular form of the present tense (indicative mood) of be 1
Origin of art
2British Dictionary definitions for ART (3 of 4)
assisted reproductive technology
British Dictionary definitions for -art (4 of 4)
a variant of -ard
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with art
see fine art; state of the art.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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