work of art
Americannoun
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a piece of creative work in the arts, especially a painting or sculpture.
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a product that gives aesthetic pleasure and that can be judged separately from any utilitarian considerations.
noun
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a piece of fine art, such as a painting or sculpture
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something that may be likened to a piece of fine art, esp in beauty, intricacy, etc
Etymology
Origin of work of art
First recorded in 1825–35
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
And if you buy a work of art from an artist and you sell it at a later date, why shouldn’t you be able to sell it for more than you bought it for?
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 12, 2026
“Twin Peaks: The Return” is, of course, a work of art.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 24, 2026
In its purest sense, the memorial is a “ready-made” work of art consisting of prefabricated components that he plans to present in a new context.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 5, 2025
A Gustav Klimt painting fetched $236.4 million at a Sotheby’s auction in New York last week, the second priciest work of art ever sold at auction.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 28, 2025
A weird thing happened during the search for the Mona Lisa: the theft became a work of art itself.
From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
