aesthetic

aesthetic

See also: æsthetic

English

Alternative forms

• æsthetic, esthetic

Etymology

From German Ästhetik or French esthétique, both from Ancient Greek αἰσθητικός (aisthētikós, “of sense perception”), from αἰσθάνομαι (aisthánomai, “I feel”); Analysable as aesthe(sis) +‎ -tic.

Cognates include Proto-Germanic *awiz (“obvious”), Sanskrit आविस् (āvís, “manifestly, evidently”) and Latin audiō.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, conservative) IPA^(key): /esˈθet.ɪk/, /iːsˈθet.ɪk/
• (Received Pronunciation, contemporary) IPA^(key): /ɛsˈθɛt.ɪk/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɪsˈθet.ɪk/, /iːsˈθet.ɪk/, /əsˈθet.ɪk/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɛsˈθɛt.ɪk/, /eɪsˈθɛtɪk/, /əsˈθet.ɪk/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛtɪk

Adjective

aesthetic (comparative more aesthetic, superlative most aesthetic)

1. Concerned with beauty, artistic impact, or appearance.

   Coordinate term: cosmetic

   It works well enough, but the shabby exterior offends his aesthetic sensibilities.

   • 1881, W. S. Gilbert, Patience, Act I:

     If you're anxious for to shine in the high aesthetic line as a man of culture rare,
     You must get up all the germs of the transcendental terms, and plant them everywhere.

   • 1941 August, C. Hamilton Ellis, “The English Station”, in Railway Magazine, page 358:

     If Euston is not typically English, St. Pancras is. Its façade is a nightmare of improbable Gothic. It is fairly plastered with the aesthetic ideals of 1868, and the only beautiful thing about it is Barlow's roof. It is haunted by the stuffier kind of ghost. Yet there is something about the ordered whole of St. Pancras that would make demolition a terrible pity.

2. Beautiful or appealing to one's sense of beauty or art.

   Synonyms: aesthetical, tasteful

   Antonyms: inaesthetic, unaesthetic

   The design of the lobby cannot be considered particularly aesthetic.

   • 2022 January 12, Paul Bigland, “Fab Four: the nation's finest stations: Wakefield Kirkgate”, in RAIL, number 948, page 28:

     The station was rebuilt yet again by British Rail in 1967, when large chunks of the 19th century station were demolished and replaced with 'modern' buildings that were less than aesthetic.

Translations

concerned with beauty

Armenian: գեղագիտական (gełagitakan) Asturian: estéticu Belarusian: эстэты́чны (estetýčny) Bulgarian: естетичен (bg) (estetičen), изящен (bg) (izjašten) Catalan: estètic (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 講究／讲究 (zh) (jiǎngjiu) Czech: estetický (cs) Danish: æstetisk Dutch: esthetisch (nl) Faroese: fagurfrøðiligur, listfrøðiligur Finnish: esteettinen (fi) French: esthétique (fr) Galician: estético German: ästhetisch (de) Greek: αισθητικός (el) m (aisthitikós) Hungarian: esztétikus (hu) Icelandic: sjónrænn Indonesian: estetik (id), estetis (id) Irish: aeistéitiúil, aeistéitice Italian: estetico (it) Japanese: 美的な (びてきな, biteki na) Korean: 미적(美的) (ko) (mijeok) Latvian: estētisks Maori: rerehua Norwegian: Bokmål: estetisk (no) Nynorsk: estetisk Polish: estetyczny (pl) Portuguese: estético (pt) Russian: эстети́ческий (ru) (estetíčeskij) Spanish: estético (es) Swedish: estetisk (sv) Turkish: estetik (tr) Ukrainian: естети́чний (estetýčnyj)

Noun

aesthetic (plural aesthetics)

1. The study of art or beauty.
2. That which appeals to the senses.
3. The artistic motifs defining a collection of things, especially works of art; more broadly, their aura or “vibe”.

   Her most recent works have this quirky, half-serious ’90s teen culture–inspired aesthetic.

   I really like the goth aesthetic you've got going there.

Translations

the study of art or beauty — see aesthetics

that which appeals to the senses

Chinese: Mandarin: please add this translation if you can Danish: æstetik c Dutch: esthetische (nl) n Esperanto: please add this translation if you can Faroese: fagurfrøði f, listfrøði f Finnish: estetiikka (fi) French: esthétique (fr) f Galician: estética f German: Ästhetik (de) f, (stilvolle) Schönheit f Hungarian: esztétika (hu) Irish: aeistéitiúil Portuguese: estética (pt) f Russian: эсте́тика (ru) f (estétika) Swedish: estetik (sv) Thai: please add this translation if you can

Derived terms

• aesthete
• aesthetically
• aesthetician
• aesthetic information
• aesthetics
• aesthetic surgeon
• aesthetic surgery
• aesthetisation
• non-aesthetic

 

Related terms

• aesthesis, esthesis

Further reading

• "aesthetic" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 31.

Anagrams

• cheatiest