dilettante

[dil-i-tahnt, dil-i-tahnt, -tahn-tey, -tan-tee]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR dilettante ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural dil·et·tantes, dil·et·tan·ti [dil-i-tahn-tee] /ˈdɪl ɪˈtɑn ti/.

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.

adjective

of or relating to dilettantes.

Origin of dilettante

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

Related formsdil·et·tan·tish, dil·et·tan·te·ish, adjective

Synonyms for dilettante

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR dilettante ON THESAURUS.COM

1. amateur.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for dilettante

connoisseur, tenderfoot, green, rookie, abecedarian, dabbler, aesthete, tyro, greenhorn, trifler, half-baked, unskilled, dabbling, half-cocked, unaccomplished, nonprofessional, smatterer

Examples from the Web for dilettante

Contemporary Examples of dilettante

The fired host unloads on Current TV, accusing Al Gore of being a dilettante and co-owner Joel Hyatt of blackmail.
Keith Olbermann Files a No-Holds-Barred Lawsuit Over Firing by Current TV
Howard Kurtz
April 5, 2012
He fully admits his chronicle of Galliano's shows from 2004 to 2010 was “the work of a dilettante.”
Paris' Sad Galliano Expo
Tracy McNicoll
June 21, 2011
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.
Molly Ringwald Grows Up
Rebecca Dana
May 3, 2010

Historical Examples of dilettante

I would rather have you find fault with me like a friend than approve me like a dilettante.
The Greater Inclination
Edith Wharton
It never failed; the dilettante in fun was not to be deceived.
Concerning Cats
Helen M. Winslow
I really have no mind to turn into a dilettante spiritualist.
Under Western Eyes
Joseph Conrad
And it is equally foreign to the lips of the dilettante lover.
Sex=The Unknown Quantity
Ali Nomad
Should he happen to be an artist, he must appear to be only a dilettante.
A History of French Literature
Edward Dowden

British Dictionary definitions for dilettante

dilettante

noun plural -tantes or -tanti (-ˈtɑːntɪ)

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

a person who loves the arts

adjective

of or characteristic of a dilettante

Derived Formsdilettantish or dilettanteish, adjectivedilettantism or dilettanteism, noun

Word Origin for dilettante

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

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.

dilettante in Culture

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.