Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

cineaste

American  
[sin-ee-ast, sin-ey-] / ˈsɪn iˌæst, ˈsɪn eɪ- /
Or cineast,

noun

  1. any person, especially a director or producer, associated professionally with filmmaking.

  2. an aficionado of filmmaking.


cineaste British  
/ ˈsɪnɪˌæst /

noun

  1. an enthusiast for films

"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

Etymology

Origin of cineaste

1925–30; < French cinéaste, equivalent to ciné- cine- + -aste, as in ecclésiaste, gymnaste, etc.

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.

See Examples For:

Silvia Del Carmen Castaños was a student in a Laredo, Texas, high school when the budding cineaste submitted a short piece to a community film festival.

From Los Angeles Times Jun. 3, 2025

A lot of people put a lot of time and effort into finishing this off just right. 4K UHD is my favorite, but I’m a cineaste, so I put the money into the equipment.

From Seattle Times Dec. 10, 2020

In my days as an impecunious young cineaste, there was the Tolmer cinema in Euston, the cheapest picturehouse in London, or anywhere – two shillings a time.

From The Guardian May 15, 2020

It’s fitting that the winner of the world’s first film festival for GIFs—or, excuse me, “short-form content”—doesn’t exactly consider herself a cineaste.

From Slate Nov. 9, 2018

While I hold “Fight Club” in high esteem, I also believe in the French cineaste Pierre Rissient’s motto, “It is not enough to like a film, you must like it for the right reasons.”

From New York Times Aug. 30, 2018

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Dictionary.com's Learning Companion

Go beyond just looking up words.
Remember them forever with VocabTrainer.

Start training