dilettante

American  

[dil-i-tahnt, dil-i-tahnt, -tahn-tey, -tan-tee] / ˈdɪl ɪˌtɑnt, ˌdɪl ɪˈtɑnt, -ˈtɑn teɪ, -ˈtæn ti /

noun

plural

dilettantes, dilettanti

1. a person who takes up an art, activity, or subject merely for amusement, especially in a desultory or superficial way; dabbler.

   Synonyms:

   amateur

2. a lover of an art or science, especially of a fine art.

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adjective

1. of or relating to dilettantes.

dilettante British  

/ ˌdɪlɪˈtɑːntɪ /

noun

1. a person whose interest in a subject is superficial rather than professional

2. a person who loves the arts

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adjective

1. of or characteristic of a dilettante

dilettante Cultural  

1. Someone who is interested in the fine arts as a spectator, not as a serious practitioner. Dilettante is most often used to mean a dabbler, someone with a broad but shallow attachment to any field.

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Other Word Forms

• dilettanteish adjective
• dilettantish adjective
• dilettantism noun

Etymology

Origin of dilettante

1725–35; < Italian, noun use of present participle of dilettare < Latin dēlectāre to delight

Example Sentences

Titus hands power to Saturninus, the eldest son of the late Roman emperor, played with a comic spin as a peevish dilettante by Matthew Amendt.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026

"I like facts, I like knowledge, I like having wide interests. There's various ways of describing such a person, dilettante might be one way and polymath might be another."

From BBC • Nov. 29, 2025

Kenner has described the hip-hop star as a naive amateur diplomat — a dilettante, not a criminal.

From Washington Post • Mar. 31, 2023

It is an expert on some subjects and a dilettante on others.

From New York Times • Mar. 14, 2023

Nevertheless, several accomplished alpinists not on her team regarded Pittman as a grandstanding dilettante.

From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer

Related Words

• connoisseur