Definition of DILETTANTE

Choose the Right Synonym for dilettante

amateur, dilettante, dabbler, tyro mean a person who follows a pursuit without attaining proficiency or professional status. amateur often applies to one practicing an art without mastery of its essentials a painting obviously done by an amateur ; in sports it may also suggest not so much lack of skill but avoidance of direct remuneration. remained an amateur despite lucrative offers dilettante may apply to the lover of an art rather than its skilled practitioner but usually implies elegant trifling in the arts and an absence of serious commitment. had no patience for dilettantes dabbler suggests desultory habits of work and lack of persistence. a dabbler who started novels but never finished them tyro implies inexperience often combined with audacity with resulting crudeness or blundering. shows talent but is still a mere tyro

Examples of dilettante in a Sentence

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 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 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 You can always tell a true expert from a dilettante. she writes about art not from the point of view of an artist but from that of a committed dilettante

Recent Examples on the Web The Journal story also implied Polychain’s founder is a dilettante who is in over his head. — Jeff John Roberts, Fortune, "Crypto’s Crown Prince Survived ‘The Craziest Bubble Ever.’ Now He’s Ready For a Second Act," 11 Dec. 2019 Her portraits of the queen, one of which Holloway displayed on an iPad, tried to soften her reputation as a hard-hearted dilettante by portraying her as a sympathetic, doting mother. — Sharon Mizota, Los Angeles Times, "This art museum tour starts with a group cheer: ‘Dismantle the patriarchy!’," 10 Oct. 2019 The work of a dilettante, not a future art historian. — Teen Vogue, "The First Excerpt of Samira Ahmed's "Mad, Bad & Dangerous to Know" Is an Immersive YA Adventure Story in Paris," 10 Sep. 2019 Moore is the real power in this power couple and doesn’t need her husband, who is less of an auteur and more of a dilettante, to get her roles. — Kerry Lengel, azcentral, "Review: ‘After the Wedding’ serves as an acting showcase for its star-studded cast," 15 Aug. 2019 Built between 1740 and 1800, West Wycombe Park was conceived as a pleasure palace for the 18th century libertine and dilettante Sir Francis Dashwood, 2nd Baronet. — Sarah Bray, Town & Country, "What It's Really Like to Get Married at Downton Abbey," 30 July 2019 The more Kennedy pressed, depicting McCarthy as a racially insensitive dilettante who didn’t really want to be President, a man who was taking advantage of his volunteers, the more Sylvester and Branch dug in. — David Margolick, The New Yorker, "The Campaign Volunteer Whose Brilliance Haunted Robert F. Kennedy," 7 June 2019 From my point of view — that of a dilettante — this is a bad PR move and not a lot more. — Elizabeth Lopatto, The Verge, "Elon Musk doesn’t respect the SEC, which is still investigating Tesla," 14 Dec. 2018 In the interest of time I would be privately tutored to become a dilettante butler by Christopher Ely, who had been, among other things, a butler at Buckingham Palace and was heading up FCI's Estate Management Studies program. — Jonathan Reynolds, Town & Country, "At Your Service," 11 July 2014

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'dilettante.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.