aesthetics
Pluralaesthetics (some meanings)
- 1The branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of beauty and artistic taste.
Aesthetics examines why certain shapes and sounds strike us as beautiful.
Her graduate work in aesthetics explored the link between symmetry and our sense of beauty.
Note
The name of the field is built like physics or ethics, from aesthetic plus the suffix -ics. Like them, it is usually an uncountable noun with a singular verb: aesthetics examines, not aesthetics examine. In use the word can drift. Geneviève Zubrzycki's National Matters (2017) describes a brand "displaying a distinctly Nordic aesthetics," where the word has left the philosophy department and come to mean a particular style.
- 2Plural of aesthetic.
The gallery juxtaposes clashing aesthetics drawn from rival art movements.
Their two wardrobes reflect wildly different aesthetics.
Note
Here the -s is a true plural. It counts separate styles or sets of motifs, so the verb is plural too: clashing aesthetics compete, and two wardrobes show different aesthetics. That sets it apart from an artist's overall approach, which takes a singular verb despite its spelling, as in "the director's aesthetics favors long takes." If the verb feels uncertain, ask whether you mean one sensibility or several.
- 3The principles, preferences, and creative aims that together define an artist's approach to their work.
The director's aesthetics favors long takes and soft natural light.
Everything in her studio expresses her stripped-down, minimalist aesthetics.
Similarstyle, sensibility
aesthetics is a form of aesthetic
aesthetic, noun: The set of artistic motifs that define a collection of works, or more loosely their overall mood or vibe. Full entry
- Forms
- aestheticaesthetics plural
- Spelling
- aesthetic → aesthetics: add -s
Practice
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Origin
Formed from "aesthetic" combined with the suffix "-ics."