dilettante
[dil-i-tahnt, dil-i-tahnt, -tahn-tey, -tan-tee]
- a person who takes up an art, activity, or subject merely for amusement, especially in a desultory or superficial way; dabbler.
- a lover of an art or science, especially of a fine art.
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- of or relating to dilettantes.
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Origin of dilettante
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.com1. amateur.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
connoisseurtenderfootgreenrookieabecedariandabbleraesthetetyrogreenhorntriflerhalf-bakedunskilleddabblinghalf-cockedunaccomplishednonprofessionalsmattererExamples from the Web for dilettante
Contemporary Examples
The fired host unloads on Current TV, accusing Al Gore of being a dilettante and co-owner Joel Hyatt of blackmail.
He fully admits his chronicle of Galliano's shows from 2004 to 2010 was “the work of a dilettante.”
I finally feel like I can call myself a writer now, rather than writing being just something I do on the side, as a dilettante.
Historical Examples
I would rather have you find fault with me like a friend than approve me like a dilettante.
The Greater InclinationEdith Wharton
It never failed; the dilettante in fun was not to be deceived.
Concerning CatsHelen M. Winslow
I really have no mind to turn into a dilettante spiritualist.
Under Western EyesJoseph Conrad
And it is equally foreign to the lips of the dilettante lover.
Sex=The Unknown QuantityAli Nomad
Should he happen to be an artist, he must appear to be only a dilettante.
A History of French LiteratureEdward Dowden
dilettante
- a person whose interest in a subject is superficial rather than professional
- a person who loves the arts
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- of or characteristic of a dilettante
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Word Origin
C18: from Italian, from dilettare to delight, from Latin dēlectāre
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
Word Origin and History for dilettante
n.
1733, borrowing of Italian dilettante "lover of music or painting," from dilettare "to delight," from Latin delectare (see delight (n.)). Originally without negative connotation, "devoted amateur," the pejorative sense emerged late 18c. by contrast with professional.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
dilettante
[(dil-uh-tahnt, dil-uh-tahnt)]
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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The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.