artistic

[ ahr-tis-tik ]

adjective

1. conforming to the standards of art; satisfying aesthetic requirements:

   artistic productions.

2. showing skill or excellence in execution:

   artistic workmanship.

3. exhibiting taste, discriminating judgment, or sensitivity:

   an artistic arrangement of flowers; artistic handling of a delicate diplomatic situation.

4. exhibiting an involvement in or appreciation of art, especially the fine arts:

   He had wide-ranging artistic interests.

5. involving only aesthetic considerations, usually taken as excluding moral, practical, religious, political, or similar concerns:

   artistic principles.

6. of art or artists:

   artistic works.

7. of, like, or thought of as characteristic of an artist:

   an artistic temperament.

Other Words From

• ar·tisti·cal·ly adverb
• inter·ar·tistic adjective
• nonar·tistic adjective
• nonar·tisti·cal adjective
• nonar·tisti·cal·ly adverb
• prear·tistic adjective
• pseudo·ar·tistic adjective
• pseudo·ar·tisti·cal·ly adverb
• quasi-ar·tistic adjective
• quasi-ar·tisti·cal·ly adverb
• unar·tistic adjective
• unar·tisti·cal·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of artistic¹

First recorded in 1745–55; artist + -ic

Example Sentences

By giving an artistic veto to a madman, we submit to the mindset of a slave.

From The Daily Beast

You two seem to have similar artistic sensibilities, both very interested in the macabre.

From The Daily Beast

Colfer's artistic callings share a common thread: they are deeply personal and rooted in a challenging childhood.

From The Daily Beast

Instead, they saw music videos as a launch pad for a whole new artistic movement: virality.

From The Daily Beast

Hitchcock had met or known about everyone of artistic consequence over the last 60 years.

From The Daily Beast

The quality of artistic beauty in articulation is very important, beyond the mere accuracy which is ordinarily thought of.

From Project Gutenberg

At home Liszt doesn't wear his long abb's coat, but a short one, in which he looks much more artistic.

From Project Gutenberg

She went to Paris in 1878 and was so attracted by the artistic life which she saw that she determined to study there.

From Project Gutenberg

In the spring of 1880 she went again to Paris, only to "feast on things artistic."

From Project Gutenberg

One of the lower and mixed forms of artistic activity, in the case of the child and of the race alike, is personal adornment.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• aesthetic
• creative
• decorative
• dramatic
• imaginative
• musical