state of the art

American  

noun

1. the latest and most sophisticated or advanced stage of a technology, art, or science.

---

state of the art British  

noun

1. the level of knowledge and development achieved in a technique, science, etc, esp at present

---

adjective

1. the most recent and therefore considered the best; up-to-the-minute

   a state-of-the-art amplifier

state of the art Idioms  

1. The highest level of development, very up-to-date, as in This new television set reflects the state of the art in screen technology. Despite including the word art, this term originated in technology, and its first recorded use appears in a 1910 book on the gas turbine. Today it is often used adjectivally, as in This is a state-of-the-art camera, and sometimes very loosely, as in That movie is state-of-the-art Woody Allen.

---

Other Word Forms

• state-of-the-art
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of state of the art

First recorded in 1960–65

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

state of the art

But the glass on vitrines is nonreflective; lighting is state of the art; and windows, once masked by curtains, now reveal the landscape, thanks to UV-filtering film.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026

The P.A. system in the main gym is state of the art.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026

The Terafab will focus on so-called two-nanometer nodes, which represent the state of the art in semiconductor design and manufacturing.

From Barron's ● Mar. 23, 2026

Carter said that, since the inspection last summer, the trust had "opened state of the art maternity facilities in our new Acute Services Block at the L&D".

From BBC ● Jan. 23, 2026

This was the state of the art in the mid-1800s, and it seemed to mesh perfectly with the laws of statistical mechanics.

From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife