aestheticism

1 of 2

noun

aes·​thet·​i·​cism es-ˈthe-tə-ˌsi-zəm 

is-

variants or less commonly estheticism

1

: a doctrine that the principles of beauty are basic to other and especially moral principles

2

: devotion to or emphasis on beauty or the cultivation of the arts

esthete, esthetic, esthetical, esthetician, estheticism, estheticize

2 of 2

es·​thete

less common spellings of aesthete, aesthetic, aesthetical, aesthetician, aestheticism, aestheticize

: one having or affecting sensitivity to the beautiful especially in art

Examples of aestheticism in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Sontag, by contrast, was headed toward a kind of eroticized aestheticism. —Alex Ross, New Yorker, 14 Mar. 2026

For a long time now, the signature style of the contemporary art world has been something like real estate aestheticism: growth for growth’s sake. —Jackson Arn, Harpers Magazine, 30 Dec. 2025

Enticing consumers to accelerate the natural deterioration process and forfeit any resemblance of authenticity in favor of manufactured aestheticism. —Elizabeth Grace Coyne, Forbes.com, 29 June 2025

Though the novel is European rather than American in setting, what is remarkable and universal is the connection drawn between the aestheticism of Hyacinth’s nature and the magnetism that anarchism holds for him. —Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 24 Feb. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun

aesthetic entry 1 + -ism

First Known Use

Noun

1843, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for aestheticism

• activism
• albinism
• altruism
• aneurism
• animism
• aphorism
• atomism
• barbarism
• bolshevism
• botulism
• brahmanism
• calvinism