Mark Mehler
Mary Clarke & Clement Crisp
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The Singular (Or Plural) Art of Aesthetics
The noun aesthetic is often found used in its plural form. In the plural form, aesthetics can refer to the theory of art and beauty—and in particular the question of what makes something beautiful or interesting to regard:
Although he could extemporize animatedly about the history of the valve seat grinder, or the art of ropemaking, or how long it took to manually drill blast holes into a deposit of coal, aesthetics were another matter. The unlikely beauty of his rusty treasures defied elaboration.
Donovan Hohn, Harper’s, January 2005
This sense is sometimes encountered in constructions that treat it as singular:
With the removal of the studio packages, those cinema owners still providing double features began exploring less arbitrary and more justified pairings of films. The double feature became a special element of movie houses concentrating on the presentation of classic and art films. And this is where an aesthetics of the double feature emerges.
Chadwick Jenkins, PopMatters, 16 Aug. 2016So Sontag was wrong to describe camp as an "unserious, 'aesthete's' vision." Aesthetics is always serious when agreed-upon interpretations are changed or stolen or emptied out.
Dave Hickey, Harper's, December 2009
A word that follows a similar pattern is poetics, (which also happens to be the title of a work by Aristotle focusing on literary theory and discourse):
A poetics of film, he has argued, seeks to reveal the conventions that films use to achieve their effects-and cognitive explanations provide insight into how and why filmic conventions, like shot-reverse-shot or empathy close-ups, produce the effects they do.
Alissa Quart, Lingua Franca, March 2000
As a plural noun, aesthetics can also be used as a synonym for beauty:
For reasons of economy and aesthetics, though, most of the house was stick built and is perfectly cozy without any elaborate beam work.
Andrew Vietze, Down East, May 2003
Examples of aesthetic in a Sentence
Terrence Rafferty, GQ, October 1997
Whereas the essence of Proust's aesthetic position was contained in the deceptively simple yet momentous assertion that "a picture's beauty does not depend on the things portrayed in it."
—Alain de Botton, How Proust Can Change Your Life, 1997
I suppose that jazz listening and prizefight watching are my two most passionate avocations, and this is largely so because the origins of my aesthetic urges are in the black working class.
—Gerald Early, "The Passing of Jazz's Old Guard: … ,"
in The Best American Essays 1986, Elizabeth Hardwick & Robert Atwan, editors, 1986
There are practical as well as aesthetic reasons for planting trees.
making aesthetic improvements to the building
Noun
Aesthetics is an important part of Greek philosophy.
the aesthetics of the gemstones
Alexandra Kirkman, Forbes.com, 2 July 2025
Coastal grandma Cancer exudes the nostalgic, nurturing vibes that are perfect for the cozy elegance of this Nancy Meyers–influenced aesthetic—no grandkids required.
—Meghan Rose, Glamour, 1 July 2025
Ashlee Marie Preston, Forbes.com, 23 June 2025
While Capital One has made its mark in the lounge game with fresh aesthetics and elevated food-and-beverage options, this JFK outpost seems like its most ambitious yet, both in design and in concept.
—Paul Rubio, AFAR Media, 23 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for aesthetic
Cite this Entry
“Aesthetic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/aesthetic. Accessed 8 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
aesthetic
adjective
Sarah Skidmore, The San Diego Union-Tribune
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