artistic
Americanadjective
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conforming to the standards of art; satisfying aesthetic requirements.
artistic productions.
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showing skill or excellence in execution.
artistic workmanship.
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exhibiting taste, discriminating judgment, or sensitivity.
an artistic arrangement of flowers; artistic handling of a delicate diplomatic situation.
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exhibiting an involvement in or appreciation of art, especially the fine arts.
He had wide-ranging artistic interests.
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involving only aesthetic considerations, usually taken as excluding moral, practical, religious, political, or similar concerns.
artistic principles.
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of art or artists.
artistic works.
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of, like, or thought of as characteristic of an artist.
an artistic temperament.
adjective
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of or characteristic of art or artists
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performed, made, or arranged decoratively and tastefully; aesthetically pleasing
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appreciative of and sensitive to beauty in art
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naturally gifted with creative skill
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of artistic
Explanation
The adjective artistic describes people who are creative or creations called "art." While you might not consider the sculptor Oldenburg's inflatable toilet as "art," recreating something ordinary in a unique way is very artistic. Artistic often describes something pleasing to look at, but you don't have to like everything called artistic. If you make paintings, clay figures, or computer drawings, you're being artistic, because you're creating works of art. If you're creative in a less structured way — say, you arrange everything on your desk by shape and color so it looks nice and you enjoy doing it — that's artistic too. It may not always be "art," but it's still artistic creation.
Vocabulary lists containing artistic
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"Journeys," Vocabulary from Lesson 16
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Example Sentences
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Copyright laws also underscore the premium we place on originality by granting creators – and even their heirs – long periods of exclusive rights for books, music and other artistic works.
From Salon ● Aug. 23, 2026
The mismatch—the strictures of the business world and a galloping imagination—launched Kafka and his innumerable artistic progeny, which continue all the way to today’s deadpan sitcoms detailing strange doings at the office.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
Even the children’s rooms have been given an artistic, yet whimsical, feel.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026
Or maybe “The Wrong Girls” is simply making an artistic statement about the joy of sloppiness.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
Her entries consisted of artistic manifestos, trivial complaints, character sketches and simple accounts of her day which increasingly shaded off into fantasy.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
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.
