as in amateur
lacking or showing a lack of expert skill
many dilettante efforts could be seen at the sidewalk art show
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in tinkerer
a person who regularly or occasionally engages in an activity as a pastime rather than as a profession
a dilettante at heart, she was never willing to commit the time and effort that ballet demands
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in scholar
dated
a person having a knowledgeable and fine appreciation of the arts
she writes about art not from the point of view of an artist but from that of a committed dilettante
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of dilettante
Harriet Quick, theweek, 17 July 2024
Bruce Wayne: To the public at large, Bruce Wayne is a shallow dilettante, apparently wasting his parents’ vast fortune on frivolous pursuits and hedonistic pleasures.
—Denise Petski, Deadline, 20 June 2024
Under the impression that Tom is good friends with his son, Dickie Greenleaf, a trust-fund dilettante who has decided to live in Italy to paint and dillydally instead of working with his father as planned, Mr. Greenleaf offers Tom money to go to Italy and convince the playboy to come home.
—Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 4 Apr. 2024
An even simpler reason is that Trump is a vain, distractible dilettante.
—Andrew Marantz, The New Yorker, 27 Mar. 2024
See All Example Sentences for dilettante
Noun
Back in the 1930s, Cocteau was dubbed a dilettante.
—Harriet Quick, theweek, 17 July 2024
Bruce Wayne: To the public at large, Bruce Wayne is a shallow dilettante, apparently wasting his parents’ vast fortune on frivolous pursuits and hedonistic pleasures.
—Denise Petski, Deadline, 20 June 2024
Under the impression that Tom is good friends with his son, Dickie Greenleaf, a trust-fund dilettante who has decided to live in Italy to paint and dillydally instead of working with his father as planned, Mr. Greenleaf offers Tom money to go to Italy and convince the playboy to come home.
—Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 4 Apr. 2024
An even simpler reason is that Trump is a vain, distractible dilettante.
—Andrew Marantz, The New Yorker, 27 Mar. 2024
See All Example Sentences for dilettante
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dilettante
Noun
-
Hitler—still two years from power—was dismissed as a dithering amateur, reliant on speeches, crowds, and parliamentary niceties.—
Thomas Meaney,
New Yorker,
2 July 2025
-
The contest arrives as AI becomes an increasingly popular tool for musicians from amateurs to professionals — more than 60 million people used AI software to create music in 2024, according to the International Music Summit’s 2025 Business Report.—
Leslie Katz,
Forbes.com,
1 July 2025
Noun
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In addition to being a Sachs scholar, she was named a Gates Scholarship winner — a prestigious award from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.—
Elizabeth Hernandez,
Denver Post,
12 July 2025
-
Robert Osborn, an early thinker on lawn tennis, was also a religious scholar.—
Sam Knight,
New Yorker,
12 July 2025
Noun
-
Smythe balances deeply personal and professional motivations Read Smythe's memoir and find her forever a curious connoisseur and consumer of popular culture birthed by the intersection of an era equally dominated by music videos and nightclubs.—
Marcus K. Dowling,
The Tennessean,
2 July 2025
-
My husband and most of our friends are avid connoisseurs of wine and spirits.—
Judith Martin,
Sun Sentinel,
2 July 2025
Noun
-
One thought of Madonna’s Eva Perón greeting devotees in Evita.—
Victoria Bekiempis,
Vulture,
2 July 2025
-
Opener Jake Worthington, also a devotee of traditional country, showcased his own growing talent and potential for stardom.—
Marcus K. Dowling,
The Tennessean,
2 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Dilettante.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dilettante. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.
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