cineast
noun
Did you know?
Cineast is a French borrowing that made its American premiere in the mid-1920s. The French spliced together "ciné" and "-aste" to create "cinéaste," a word for a filmmaker or movie director. "Ciné" in French is just another word for "cinema," and "-aste" is a suffix that appears in words like "gymnaste" and "enthousiaste." "Cinéaste" underwent several changes once it was established in English. Some writers anglicized its spelling, shortening "-aste" to "-ast" (although "cineaste" and "cinéaste" are also still used). Others began to use "cineast" to mean "film buff," and that's the sense that is most common today.
Examples of cineast in a Sentence
Georg Szalai, The Hollywood Reporter, 30 June 2023
WIRED: Selection and recommendations for the Sundance-savvy cineast.
—Wired Staff, WIRED, 1 May 2004
Cite this Entry
“Cineast.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cineast. Accessed 30 Oct. 2025.
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