fine art

American  

[fahyn ahrt] / ˈfaɪn ˈɑrt /

noun

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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Etymology

Origin of fine art

First recorded in 1760–70

Example Sentences

A-list rock stars from Rage Against the Machine and underground peers like N8NOFACE have lauded them, and the fine art and film worlds have noticed too.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 15, 2026

Students on fine art or applied arts courses were particularly angry at the time.

From BBC • Feb. 16, 2026

But if poetry is about saying a lot in a little—the fine art of distillation—then by the end of its two-hour runtime “A Poet” comes off more like funny but flabby prose.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 29, 2026

Feliz has a degree in fine art from the Cooper Union in New York.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 26, 2026

Le Fevre argued that the picture was fine art, and that his intention was to make Greek mythology come alive.

From "Slaughterhouse-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut