artisanal
Americanadjective
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pertaining to or noting a person skilled in a utilitarian art, trade, or craft, especially one requiring manual skill.
The men were taught artisanal occupations such as bricklaying and carpentry.
-
pertaining to or noting a high-quality or distinctive product made in small quantities, usually by hand or using traditional methods.
artisanal cheese;
an artisanal bakery.
Etymology
Origin of artisanal
Explanation
Something artisanal is made by hand and very special. The little wooden spoon your sister carved is artisanal, and so is the honey from your neighbors' beehive. This adjective describes things made by artisans, or skilled craftspeople. Artisanal bread might be hand-kneaded and baked in a wood-fired oven, while an artisanal ax is forged by hand in a small blacksmith's shop. Artisanal is from the Latin artitus, "skilled," and a root meaning "art." The word has become so popular that some factory-made snack foods claim to be artisanal; unless a product was crafted by hand in small batches, don't believe it!
Vocabulary lists containing artisanal
Voilà: Croissant Lingo
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Pizza, Pizza!
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The Ink Witch
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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.
Burkina Faso's government says the new plant should eventually be capable of refining all the gold produced by both its industrial mines and artisanal miners.
From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026
In the center is the crème de la crème: Maison Bordier, the small artisanal house in Brittany whose butters sell out the fastest.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026
The South African company recently started working with a refinery in Ghana that processes gold from local artisanal and small-scale miners, and aims to start handling that metal itself soon.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026
This divide, between businesses focused on repeatability, and those who promise a more artisanal, human-fronted experience, predates robotics.
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026
Slabs of real smoked salmon, hard-crusted artisanal breads, and a waffle station with every conceivable topping.
From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman
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.
