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
- artistically adverb
- interartistic adjective
- nonartistic adjective
- nonartistical adjective
- nonartistically adverb
- preartistic adjective
- pseudoartistic adjective
- pseudoartistically adverb
- quasi-artistic adjective
- quasi-artistically adverb
- unartistic adjective
- unartistically adverb
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
Week 1 Spelling
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"Journeys," Vocabulary from Lesson 16
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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.
Time revealed a path forward that doesn’t demand artistic debasement.
From Salon • Apr. 17, 2026
Based on Donald E. Westlake’s novel “The Hunter,” “Point Blank” has all the makings of a highly involving thriller, but Mr. Boorman consistently frustrates these expectations with more artistic aims.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 15, 2026
He was a theater and English major at Grinnell and widely considered a star; his mentor at the college thought he’d become an artistic director of a theater or perhaps a theater professor.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 12, 2026
But theater wasn’t just a way for him to integrate his artistic interests.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 8, 2026
We may say, therefore, that it is the yardstick of artistic greatness or importance.
From "History of Art, Volume 1" by H.W. Janson
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.
