dilettante

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“
Either he will become a dilettante, which is the French way, or he will take to drink and mystical nihilism, a career very popular in Russian fiction.

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Definitions (9)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (3)

  1. noun A dabbler in an art or a field of knowledge. See Synonyms at amateur.
  2. noun A lover of the fine arts; a connoisseur.
  3. adjective Superficial; amateurish.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (3)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (2)

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Examples (50)

  • Manisty represents the scornful dilettante, the impatient accuser of an Italy he does not attempt to understand; while the American Lucy, on the other side draws from her New England tradition a glowing sympathy for the Risorgimento and its fruits, for the efforts and sacrifices from which modern Italy arose, that refuses to be chilled by the passing corruptions and scandals of the new regime . —  Writer's Recollections (In Two Volumes), Volume II
  • Despite his later reputation as a dilettante, this was well conceived and executed, and his hard work was exceptional. —  Luftwaffe Victorious
  • His squeeze-suit and official rank branded him as a dilettante, but he adored the Deep Spacers. —  Gardner Dozois - The Year's Best Science Fiction 23rd Annual Collection (2006)
  • But must be harsh with myself & get stuck in & stop behaving like a dilettante instead of pro —  Portia Da Costa
  • For a dilettante, blogging might be fun for a few weeks before turning into a major chore. —  Anime Nano!
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

shirker ·  sciolist ·  idler ·  fop ·  hanger-on ·  nonentity ·  connoisseur ·  trifler ·  dabbler ·  spendthrift ·  sentimentalists
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Italian, lover of the arts, from present participle of dilettare, to delight, from Latin dēlectāre; see delight.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. Also dilettant; =D.G. Danish Swedish dilettant = French dilettante, from Italian dilettante, properly present participle of dilettare, delight, from Latin delectare, delight: see delight, delectable.
  2. dillettante, n.
 

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/dɪlɛˈtæntɛ/
by American Heritage

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