fine art

American  

[fahyn ahrt] / ˈfaɪn ˈɑrt /

noun

• fine arts
  plural

1. a visual art considered to have been created primarily for aesthetic purposes and judged for its beauty and meaningfulness, specifically, painting, sculpture, drawing, watercolor, graphics, and architecture.

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fine art British  

noun

1. art produced chiefly for its aesthetic value, as opposed to applied art

2. Also called: beaux arts.  (often plural) any of the fields in which such art is produced, such as painting, sculpture, and engraving

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fine art Idioms  

1. Something requiring highly developed techniques and skills, as in He's turned lying into a fine art, or The contractor excels in the fine art of demolition. This term alludes to the fine arts, such as music, painting, and sculpture, which require both skill and talent. It is now often used to describe anything that takes skill to do. [First half of 1800s]

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• fine arts
  plural

Etymology

Origin of fine art

First recorded in 1760–70

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

fine art

As the Prado museum demonstrates, Madrid knows its fine art.

From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026

As a young man, Mansour studied fine art in Jerusalem but went on to develop his own distinctive style.

From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026

A fine art and news photographer for decades, Cooley, 51, is using pictures like the one he snapped of the tree as part of his new project, “In the Gardens of Eaton.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2026

Freeman credits his father, a member of the Packers Hall of Fame, with teaching him the fine art of becoming a professional athlete.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 20, 2026

We’ve practiced this routine and made rather a fine art of it.

From "Code Name Verity" by Elizabeth Wein