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dilettante

[dil-i-tahnt, dil-i-tahnt, -tahn-tey, -tan-tee]
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noun, plural dil·et·tantes, dil·et·tan·ti [dil-i-tahn-tee] /ˈdɪl ɪˈtɑn ti/.
  1. a person who takes up an art, activity, or subject merely for amusement, especially in a desultory or superficial way; dabbler.
  2. a lover of an art or science, especially of a fine art.
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adjective
  1. of or relating to dilettantes.
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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

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1. amateur.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for dilettantish

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • His dilettantish manner was gone for good, as was also his foppish beard.

  • Evelyns suggestions were unpractical and dilettantish, and Pepyss ramblings not over wise.

    Haunted London

    Walter Thornbury

  • He was exceedingly well fixed in a money way—a sort of dilettantish architect, with offices in the Metropolitan Tower.

    The Destroying Angel

    Louis Joseph Vance

British Dictionary definitions for dilettantish

dilettante

noun plural -tantes or -tanti (-ˈtɑːntɪ)
  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
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Derived Formsdilettantish or dilettanteish, adjectivedilettantism or dilettanteism, noun

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 dilettantish

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
dilettantish 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.

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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.