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”).

Pronunciation

• (Conservative RP) IPA^(key): /esˈθet.ɪk/, /iːsˈθet.ɪk/
• (Contemporary RP) IPA^(key): /ɛsˈθɛt.ɪk/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɪsˈθet.ɪk/, /iːsˈθet.ɪk/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɛsˈθɛt.ɪk/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛtɪk

Adjective

aesthetic (comparative more aesthetic, superlative most aesthetic)

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

   • 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.

   Coordinate term: cosmetic

2. (nonstandard) Beautiful or appealing to one's sense of beauty and/or art.

   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.

   Synonyms: aesthetical, esthetic, tasteful

   Antonyms: inaesthetic, unaesthetic

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 (zh), 讲究 (zh) (jiǎngjiu)

• Czech: estetický (cs) m
• Danish: æstetisk
• Dutch: esthetisch (nl)
• Faroese: fagurfrøðiligur, listfrøðiligur
• Finnish: esteettinen (fi)
• French: esthétique (fr)
• Galician: estético m
• German: ästhetisch (de)
• Greek: αισθητικός (el) m (aisthitikós)
• Hungarian: esztétikus (hu)
• Icelandic: sjónrænn m

• 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 vibe.

   Her most recent works have this quirky, half-serious 90's 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
• 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
• aesthetics
• aesthetisation

 

Further reading

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

Anagrams

• cheatiest