Word Of The Day

dilettante \DIL-uh-tahnt\ noun
1 : an admirer or lover of the arts
*2 : a person having a superficial interest in an art or a branch of knowledge : dabbler

Example sentence: "He continued a dilettante, never quite abandoning his art, but working at it fitfully, and talking more about it than working at it." (William Dean Howells, _The Rise of Silas Lapham_)

Did you know? If someone calls you a dilettante, they're probably not too impressed with your devotion to your art. But "dilettante" didn't always have the disparaging tone that it has today. "Dilettante" is an Italian word, derived from "dilettare," meaning "to delight." In the 18th century, a dilettante was simply a person who delighted in the arts. Later, the term came to refer to someone who cultivates an art as a pastime without pursuing it professionally -- that is, an amateur. From this meaning developed the somewhat negative meaning that the word carries today, indicating a person who dabbles in an art or subject but is not truly devoted to it.