artist
Pluralartists
Pluralartists
- 1A person who creates works of art, especially paintings, drawings, or sculpture, often as their profession.
He gave up his office job to become a full-time artist.
The gallery represents several local artists who paint for a living.
- 2A musician or singer who records music for release to the public.
The label signed a promising new artist after the showcase.
Several chart-topping artists performed at the summer festival.
UsageCommon in the music business: a recording artist, a solo artist; a label signs an artist.
Similarmusician
- 3Someone who entertains an audience, such as a singer, actor, dancer or comedian, especially as part of a show, concert or festival.
More than forty artists, from folk singers to stand-up comedians, will appear at this year's festival.
The theater pays every artist in the variety show the same nightly fee.
UsageArtiste means the same but sounds deliberately theatrical; artist is the everyday word for the people on the bill.
Similarperformer, entertainer, act
Note
The showbusiness sense: on a festival bill or a variety program, artist covers anyone who performs, comedians and dancers as readily as singers, with no brush or canvas in sight. Its doublet artiste, borrowed straight from French, means exactly this: a public performer, especially of song or dance.
- 4A person who is highly skilled at some particular activity.
When it comes to negotiation, she is a genuine artist.
The greatest pickpockets were artists of misdirection.
UsageOften after the activity, as in con artist or escape artist, or with of: an artist of misdirection.
Less common meaning
- 5Having or showing artistic skill or taste.
Note
A use that has faded entirely: the noun pressed into service as an adjective, even compared with most, as in "the most artist productions" set against the work of "unarted nations." Today artistic does this job. A modern reader will take artist before a noun as the noun used attributively (an artist friend), not as a word describing style.
Showing meanings only.
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Origin
This word comes from French artiste, from Late Latin artista, from ars meaning "art." It is a doublet of artiste and can be analyzed as art plus the suffix -ist.
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- Artist comes from French artiste, from Late Latin artista, ultimately from Latin ars meaning art. en.wiktionary.org
- Artist and artiste are doublets. en.wiktionary.org
- Artist can be analyzed morphologically as art plus -ist. en.wiktionary.org