English Reference

Word

artist

US/ˈɑɹtəst/

UK/ˈɑːtɪst/

Definitions

01creator of visual art

A1

n. someone who creates art like paintings, drawings, or sculptures.

n. a person who produces works in the visual arts, such as painting, sculpture, or photography.

“The artist spent all afternoon in her studio working on a new oil painting.”

“The gallery is hosting a retrospective of the artist's early charcoal sketches, which show a clear departure from his later abstract style.”

02musician or performer

B1 · Music

n. a person who performs or records music or other entertainment.

n. a professional performer, especially a singer or musician who records and releases music.

“She is a talented recording artist who has released three albums this year.”

“The contract ensures that the recording artist retains the intellectual property rights to all acoustic versions of the tracks.”

03skilled person

B2

n. someone who is very good at a specific activity or job.

n. a person who performs a specific task with such skill that it is considered an art form; frequently used in compound nouns.

“The pastry chef is a true artist when it comes to decorating wedding cakes.”

“He was known as a con artist who could convince even the most skeptical investors to part with their savings.”

Antonyms

04creative professional

B1

n. a person who works in any creative field, including writing or acting.

n. a person who practices any of the creative arts, including literature and theatre, beyond the strictly visual.

“Many young artists move to the city to find work in the creative industries.”

“The festival brings together artists from diverse backgrounds to collaborate on multimedia projects that challenge traditional genre boundaries.”

Etymology

From French artiste, from Late Latin artista, from ars (“art”). Doublet of artiste. Displaced native Old English cræftiga. By surface analysis, art + -ist.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Word family

Idioms

clutch artist — A person who drives a motor vehicle, especially one equipped with a manual transmission, in a particularly skillful manner.

starving artist — A person who works as an artist or performer despite making little or no money for it, therefore suffering in poverty.

The word in film

The Artist · 2011 · Comedy

Directed by:
Michel Hazanavicius
Starring:
John Goodman, Malcolm McDowell, Jean Dujardin

Set in the 1920s, this silent film by Michel Hazanavicius follows a famous movie star struggling with the arrival of sound in cinema. Jean Dujardin plays a creative professional who must decide if he can adapt his acting style to a new era of filmmaking.

This entry

Level
A1 · Beginner
Frequency
Very common
Updated

Scan code

englishreference.com/q/artist

English Reference