Word forms: plural aesthetesregional note: in AM, also use esthete
countable noun
An aesthete is someone who loves and appreciates works of art and beautiful things.
aesthete in British English
or US esthete (ˈiːsθiːt)
noun
a person who has or who affects a highly developed appreciation of beauty, esp in poetry and the visual arts
Word origin
C19: back formation from aesthetics
aesthete in American English
(ˈɛsˌθit)
noun
1.
a person highly sensitive to art and beauty
2.
a person who artificially cultivates artistic sensitivity or makes a cult of art and beauty
SYNONYMY NOTE: aesthete, although applied to one highly sensitive to art and beauty, is often used derogatorilyto connote effeteness or decadence; , dilettante refers to one who appreciates art as distinguished from one who creates it, but isused disparagingly of one who dabbles superficially in the arts; a , connoisseur is one who has expert knowledge or a keen discrimination in matters of art and, byextension, in any matters of taste [a connoisseur of fine foods]; virtuoso, in this comparison, denotes a collector or connoisseur of art objects, and is sometimesused derogatorily to suggest faddishness
Word origin
Gr aisthētēs, a person who perceives: see aesthetic
Examples of 'aesthete' in a sentence
aesthete
But there was the capricious look of the latent aesthete in his eyes.
Hilton, John Buxton DISPLACED PERSON (2001)
A sallow aesthete, lantern-jawed, was lost in reverie, illusion or void.
Hilton, John Buxton PASSION IN THE PEAK (2001)
Fair, pale, and slightly built, his clothes fastidiously neat, Filing had the appearance of a gentleman aesthete.