arty

1 of 2

adjective

artier; artiest
: showily or pretentiously artistic
arty lighting and photography
artily adverb
artiness noun

arty

2 of 2

abbreviation

artillery

Examples of arty in a Sentence

Adjective some arty intellectual type who doesn't know the meaning of hard work a rock band with arty pretensions
Recent Examples on the Web
Adjective
Joshua Hunt dives into the history of the Criterion Collection, interviewing filmmakers and employees alike—and exploding the myth that the catalog contains only the artiest cinephile bait. Peter Rubin, Longreads, 29 Feb. 2024 This fanciful yet neutral bathroom designed by Alexandra Killion Interiors also has an arty Italian statement sink from Balducci Marmi. Brittany Anas, House Beautiful, 30 Dec. 2022 On the other were arty and educational documentaries. Ryan Faughnder Staff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 4 Feb. 2022 By today’s standards they would have been considered somewhat arty. Pat Saperstein, Variety, 10 Dec. 2021 It is crafted in the U.K. from a vegetable wax blend with top notes of lavender and thyme, and is housed in an elegant and arty porcelain vessel. Felicity Carter, Forbes, 17 Sep. 2021 This is post-hardcore for people who think Black Flag is sometimes a little too controlled and arty. John Adamian, courant.com, 1 Nov. 2019 Packets of arty narration edge the film toward pretentiousness here and there, but the rest of the film fights back. Los Angeles Times, 20 Apr. 2020 Greg Mooney ATLANTA — On a torrentially rainy night last month, some 200 members of the theatrical community here gathered in an arty underground event space for what was billed as the Atlanta Theater Dinner. Jesse Green, New York Times, 18 Mar. 2020

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'arty.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

art entry 1 + -y entry 1

First Known Use

Adjective

1901, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of arty was in 1901

Dictionary Entries Near arty

Cite this Entry

“Arty.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/arty. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

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