Meaning of art in English

art

noun

/ɑːrt/ uk

/ɑːt/

art noun (EXPRESSION)

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A2 [ U ]

the making of objects, images, music, etc. that are beautiful or that express feelings:

Can television and pop music really be considered art?

I enjoyed the ballet, but it wasn't really great art.

Thesaurus: synonyms, antonyms, and examples

art

artI took a class on art in the 20th century
the artsThe arts are vitally important to our city.
fine artsDesign and fine arts are inextricably linked.
fine artFine art can fetch quite a lot of money at auction.
craftKnitting and weaving are popular crafts.
arts and craftsThere are numerous evening classes where you can study arts and crafts.

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A2 [ U ]

the activity of painting, drawing, and making sculpture:

Art and English were my best subjects at school.

an art teacher

A2 [ U ]

paintings, drawings, and sculptures:

The gallery has an excellent collection of modern art.

an exhibition of Native American art

Peggy Guggenheim was one of the 20th century's great art collectors.

The Frick is an art gallery in New York.

B2 [ C ]

an activity through which people express particular ideas:

Drama is an art that is traditionally performed in a theater.

Do you regard film as entertainment or as an art?

She is taking a course in the performing arts.

the arts

the making or showing or performance of painting, acting, dancing, and music:

More government money is needed for the arts.

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I know enough about art to recognize a masterpiece when I see one.
We went to a lecture on Italian art.
He gave a talk on the representation of women in 19th-century art.
He's an expert on 15th-century Italian art.
He is skilled in the art of public debate.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

The visual arts in general

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art noun (NOT SCIENCE)

arts C1 [ plural ]

subjects, such as history, languages, and literature, that are not scientific subjects:

At school I was quite good at arts, but hopeless at science.

art noun (SKILL)

C1 [ C ]

a skill or special ability:

the art of conversation

Getting him to go out is quite an art (= needs special skill).

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Skill, talent and ability

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art

verb

old use

/ɑːrt/ uk

/ɑːt/

in the past, the second person singular of the present tense of "be":

thou art (= you are)

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Linguistics: verb forms, tenses & types of verbs

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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Forms of the English language

(Definition of art from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

art | Intermediate English

art

noun [ U ]

/ɑrt/

Add to word list Add to word list

the making or doing of something whose purpose is to bring pleasure to people through their enjoyment of what is beautiful and interesting, or things often made for this purpose, such as paintings, drawings, or sculptures:

ancient/modern art

American/French/Japanese art

an art museum/gallery

An art is also a skill or ability:

He never learned the art of saying "Thank you."

(Definition of art from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of art

art

So instead of being a sidekick, he's now a master of the mystic arts.

From Gizmodo

Art is where you make manifest your deepest beliefs and thoughts.

From NPR

Either way, it was so unlike any live musical presentation before it, it transcended its trappings to become performance art.

From MLive.com

Creating fine art still functions under an obligation of profundity that walls off the experience for a lot of viewers.

From A.V. Club

But art is a brutal business, and many are now worried the market is starting to cool.

From Bloomberg

I'm hoping that this becomes a new art form now, that it'll breathe new life into music videos.

From The Verge

Or do the art patterns merely reflect on someone's vivid imagination or guesstimate?

From Phys.Org

Other deals, from various financial guarantees to art swaps, are also being cut.

From Bloomberg

It will discourage the rote and the repetitive, which is a good thing for the art.

From Chicago Tribune

If not, where will the earned and unearned income for the arts come from in 20 or 30 years?

From Huffington Post

But the truth is that commercial acting is a lost art form.

From The New Yorker

It's also infused with honesty showing both the harmony and deep divisions within the women's art movement, warts and all.

From Huffington Post

To do it justice is to release a complete piece of art.

From Hollywood Reporter

She also teaches beginning drawing and an art history survey course.

From Huffington Post

These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.