First Known Use: 1748
Dictionary
dilettante
noun dil·et·tante \ˈdi-lə-ˌtänt, -ˌtant; ˌdi-lə-ˈ\
: a person whose interest in an art or in an area of knowledge is not very deep or serious
plural dil·et·tantes or dil·et·tan·ti \-ˈtän-tē, -ˈtan-tē\
Full Definition of DILETTANTE
1
: an admirer or lover of the arts
2
: a person having a superficial interest in an art or a branch of knowledge : dabbler
— dilettante adjective
— dil·et·tant·ish \-ˌtän-tish, -ˌtan-, ˌdi-lə-ˈ\ adjective
— dil·et·tan·tism \-ˌtän-ˌti-zəm, -ˌtan-, ˌdi-lə-ˈ\ noun
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Examples of DILETTANTE
- I recently spent a week in Alaska trying to learn how to be a mountaineer. I did not succeed very well, and the details are not very interesting. I finished the course (I was enrolled in a course) thinking that perhaps I am better off remaining a slightly-above-average mountain dilettante. An occasional rock climber. —Jason Lee Steorts, National Review, 18 Aug. 2008
- Being a powerhouse herself in ways that make today's feminist superwomen look like dilettantes, she inevitably clashed with star directors like Maurice Tourneur and Ernst Lubitsch. —Molly Haskell, New York Times Book Review, 6 June 1999
- Most of the articles published in Naval History reflect time-consuming research and investigation. The efforts are not the work of dilettantes, but of professional and semiprofessional historians. —Michael M. Bergfeld, Naval History, July/August 1997
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Origin of DILETTANTE
Italian, from present participle of dilettare to delight, from Latin dilectare — more at delight
Related to DILETTANTE
- Synonyms
- cognoscente, connoisseur
- Antonyms
- authority, expert, pro, professional, specialist
Synonym Discussion of DILETTANTE
amateur, dilettante, dabbler, tyro mean a person who follows a pursuit without attaining proficiency or professional status. amateur often applies to one practicing an art without mastery of its essentials <a painting obviously done by an amateur>; in sports it may also suggest not so much lack of skill but avoidance of direct remuneration <remained an amateur despite lucrative offers>. dilettante may apply to the lover of an art rather than its skilled practitioner but usually implies elegant trifling in the arts and an absence of serious commitment <had no patience for dilettantes>. dabbler suggests desultory habits of work and lack of persistence <a dabbler who started novels but never finished them>. tyro implies inexperience often combined with audacity with resulting crudeness or blundering <shows talent but is still a mere tyro>.
Rhymes with DILETTANTE
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