art form

American  

noun

1. the more or less established structure, pattern, or scheme followed in shaping an artistic work.

   The sonata, the sonnet, and the novel are all art forms.

2. a medium for artistic expression.

   ballet, sculpture, opera, and other art forms.

3. a medium other than the artistic regarded as having highly developed or systematized rules, procedures, or formulations.

   international diplomacy regarded as an art form.

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art form British  

noun

1. a conventionally established form of artistic composition, such as the symphony or the sonnet

2. a recognized medium of artistic expression

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Etymology

Origin of art form

First recorded in 1865–70

Example Sentences

Both were affectionate parodies of tropes from classic musicals dating to an era when the art form was far more culturally influential than it is now.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 5, 2026

Jorma Kaukonen, guitarist: I had always thought of jazz as somewhat of a haughty art form.

From Los Angeles Times • May 25, 2026

He teaches her the ways of his newfangled art form, and she is soon bringing all manner of specimens into the studio, capturing them in carefully composed portraits.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 7, 2026

“The Devil Wears Prada” was a heaping dose of wish-fulfillment, but it was also the very movie that carefully and artfully elucidated the values of magazines and fashion, emphasizing the art form of both.

From Salon • May 6, 2026

They have made an art form out of grammatical yet unparsable sentences: The horse raced past the barn fell.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker