dilettante

dil·et·tante

noun \ˈdi-lə-ˌtänt, -ˌtant; ˌdi-lə-ˈ\

plural dil·et·tantes or dil·et·tan·ti \-ˈtän-tē, -ˈtan-tē\

Definition of DILETTANTE

1

: an admirer or lover of the arts

2

: a person having a superficial interest in an art or a branch of knowledge : dabbler

— dilettante adjective

— dil·et·tant·ish \-ˌtän-tish, -ˌtan-, ˌdi-lə-ˈ\ adjective

— dil·et·tan·tism \-ˌtän-ˌti-zəm, -ˌtan-, ˌdi-lə-ˈ\ noun

Examples of DILETTANTE

1. You can always tell a true expert from a dilettante.
2. <she writes about art not from the point of view of an artist but from that of a committed dilettante>
3. I recently spent a week in Alaska trying to learn how to be a mountaineer. I did not succeed very well, and the details are not very interesting. I finished the course (I was enrolled in a course) thinking that perhaps I am better off remaining a slightly-above-average mountain dilettante. An occasional rock climber. —Jason Lee Steorts, National Review, 18 Aug. 2008
4. Being a powerhouse herself in ways that make today's feminist superwomen look like dilettantes, she inevitably clashed with star directors like Maurice Tourneur and Ernst Lubitsch. —Molly Haskell, New York Times Book Review, 6 June 1999
5. Most of the articles published in Naval History reflect time-consuming research and investigation. The efforts are not the work of dilettantes, but of professional and semiprofessional historians. —Michael M. Bergfeld, Naval History, July/August 1997

Origin of DILETTANTE

Italian, from present participle of dilettare to delight, from Latin dilectare — more at delight

First Known Use: 1748

Related to DILETTANTE

Synonyms

cognoscente, connoisseur

Antonyms

authority, expert, pro, professional, specialist

Related Words

adept, authority, expert, maestro, master, past master, scholar, virtuoso; critic, reviewer; amateur, dabbler; collector; specialist; aficionado (also afficionado), buff, devotee, enthusiast, fan

Near Antonyms

groundling, lowbrow, materialist, philistine

See Synonym Discussion at amateur

Other Fine Arts Terms

Gothic, baroque, bas-relief, limn, oeuvre, pastiche, rococo, sfumato

Rhymes with DILETTANTE

bon vivant, commandant, complaisant, debridement, debutant, debutante, John of Gaunt, intrigant, nonchalant, poste restante, symbiont