as in amateur
lacking or showing a lack of expert skill
many dilettante efforts could be seen at the sidewalk art show
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in tinkerer
a person who regularly or occasionally engages in an activity as a pastime rather than as a profession
a dilettante at heart, she was never willing to commit the time and effort that ballet demands
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in scholar
dated
a person having a knowledgeable and fine appreciation of the arts
she writes about art not from the point of view of an artist but from that of a committed dilettante
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in amateurism
a lack of the level of skill associated with an expert or professional
no charge of dilettantism could ever be leveled at English physicist Henry Cavendish, whose immense wealth allowed him to devote his life to scientific pursuits
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
variants
or dilettanti
1
as in amateurs
a person who regularly or occasionally engages in an activity as a pastime rather than as a profession
a dilettante at heart, she was never willing to commit the time and effort that ballet demands
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in connoisseurs
dated
a person having a knowledgeable and fine appreciation of the arts
she writes about art not from the point of view of an artist but from that of a committed dilettante
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of dilettante
Harriet Quick, theweek, 17 July 2024
Bruce Wayne: To the public at large, Bruce Wayne is a shallow dilettante, apparently wasting his parents’ vast fortune on frivolous pursuits and hedonistic pleasures.
—Denise Petski, Deadline, 20 June 2024
Under the impression that Tom is good friends with his son, Dickie Greenleaf, a trust-fund dilettante who has decided to live in Italy to paint and dillydally instead of working with his father as planned, Mr. Greenleaf offers Tom money to go to Italy and convince the playboy to come home.
—Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 4 Apr. 2024
An even simpler reason is that Trump is a vain, distractible dilettante.
—Andrew Marantz, The New Yorker, 27 Mar. 2024
See All Example Sentences for dilettante
Noun
Back in the 1930s, Cocteau was dubbed a dilettante.
—Harriet Quick, theweek, 17 July 2024
Bruce Wayne: To the public at large, Bruce Wayne is a shallow dilettante, apparently wasting his parents’ vast fortune on frivolous pursuits and hedonistic pleasures.
—Denise Petski, Deadline, 20 June 2024
Under the impression that Tom is good friends with his son, Dickie Greenleaf, a trust-fund dilettante who has decided to live in Italy to paint and dillydally instead of working with his father as planned, Mr. Greenleaf offers Tom money to go to Italy and convince the playboy to come home.
—Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 4 Apr. 2024
An even simpler reason is that Trump is a vain, distractible dilettante.
—Andrew Marantz, The New Yorker, 27 Mar. 2024
See All Example Sentences for dilettante
Cite this Entry
“Dilettante.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dilettante. Accessed 5 Jun. 2025.
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