Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A dabbler in an art or a field of knowledge. See Synonyms at amateur.
- n. A lover of the fine arts; a connoisseur.
- adj. Superficial; amateurish.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. An admirer or lover of the fine arts, science, or letters; an amateur; one who pursues an art or literature desultorily and for amusement: often used in a disparaging sense for a superficial and affected dabbler in literature or art.
- Relating to dilettantism; having the characteristics of dilettanti.
- To play the dilettante.
Wiktionary
- n. An amateur, someone who dabbles in a field out of casual interest rather than as a profession or serious interest.
- n. A person with a general but superficial interest in any art or a branch of knowledge. (Sometimes derogatory.)
- adj. Pertaining to or like a dilettante.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. An admirer or lover of the fine arts; popularly, an amateur; especially, one who follows an art or a branch of knowledge, desultorily, or for amusement only.
WordNet 3.0
- n. an amateur who engages in an activity without serious intentions and who pretends to have knowledge
- adj. showing frivolous or superficial interest; amateurish.
Etymologies
- Italian, lover of the arts, from present participle of dilettare, to delight, from Latin dēlectāre; see delight.
Examples
“The real generalist is sometimes known as a dilettante and needs an independent income.”
The Volokh Conspiracy » Palin, Ignorance, and Stupidity Revisited
“‘No, the word dilettante did not accord with that face, the expression of that face, those eyes ....’”
“The word dilettante derives from the Italian dilettare, meaning to delight in.”
“No, the word dilettante did not accord with that face, the expression of that face, those eyes ....”
“He became a symbol, I believe, to Al Smith of the shallowness of the American people, a shallowness that had hurt him so badly in '28 and had now elected this fop, which dilettante, which is how he perceived FDR.”
“Haddon Channing might have been described as a dilettante radical.”
“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”
“An eclectic essayist is necessarily a dilettante, which is not in itself a bad thing.”
“Tena, my sense is this: That one piece of info was saved as "ammunition" because your voice is powerful - and they're trying to diminish it by making you out to be some kind of dilettante condescending wealthy lady whose words should be ignored.”
“I have become "dilettante" literate in the difference, say, between Hayek and Keynes over the last 2 years or so.”
The Case for Killing Textbook Macro, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘dilettante’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4084 more...
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art & art historical
chiaroscuro, architrave, column, capital, corinthian, dorice, entablature, frieze, ionic, sketch, abecedarian, abstraction and 124 more...
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Words build meanings from origins( etymology )
These come from gamma meditation ,I think.
discursive, exogenous, machinations, purportedly, sumptuous, congruity, cantankerous, incongruous, festoon, hessian, ratiocinative, stratigraphic and 837 more...
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In provocation
When exasperated, vexed or distressed.
bunkum, pananxiety, hokum, odor of sanctity, facade of strength, bumpkin, sardonic, Philistine, Vandal, dilettante, acerbic, acrid and 11 more...
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Frenchies
courgette, soufflé, siège, folie à deux, laissez faire, élan, dilettante, boulangerie, au contraire, raconteur, chanson, epaulette
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Of Curious Provenance
Words with interesting etymologies.
boustrophedon, octothorpe, neurogami, shampoo, rubric, vernacular, ovolo, mojo, sycophant, wiki, obstreperous, geezer and 8 more...
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Words to Know
Words that will hopefully help for the sat.
capricious, bombastic, decorous, loquacious, ossified, jingoism, mitigated, venerable, supercilious, pugnacious, jubilant, Perfidy and 17 more...
rolig Etymologically, this means "one who delights." A nice concept, I think. In this time of ubiquitous professionalization and ultra-specialization, we need more dilletantes to delight us. Apr 27, 2009
chevrion see heinrich zimmer's brilliant defense of dilettantism in what was the book's name.... Apr 27, 2009
BrainyBabe Their own careers being at the most dilettante affairs, they were free from such exigencies themselves.
-- ''Yashima, or, The Gorgeous West'' by R T Sherwood, 1931. Dec 23, 2008
reesetee Hey, that has a nice ring to it! Oct 22, 2007
uselessness I'm a fan of bastardaster, personally. Nothing like adding insult to... er, insult. Oct 22, 2007
sionnach Then there is that device, recommended by the Phrontistery guy, of just adding "aster" as a pejorative suffix to your noun of choice.
Examples: poetaster, criticaster, wordiecaster.
http://phrontistery.info/aster.html Oct 22, 2007
chained_bear I think of it more like a "renaissance" person than a dabbler. I guess because "dabbler" also has a negative connotation. Oct 22, 2007
jennarenn That makes me sad. It's such a pretty word for a dabbler. Oct 21, 2007
kewpid And what an excellent insult! Oct 21, 2007
seanahan This seems to be used mostly as an insult these days. Oct 21, 2007
koani "This class is called 'Finding Your Voice'. It's for serious writers, not emotionally stunted dilettantes!" - Ugly Betty Oct 21, 2007
jennarenn A former favorite, dethroned by sparble. Jul 18, 2007