dilettante
someone who dabbles in a field without serious commitment
Word origin: From Italian dilettante, lover of an art, from dilettare, to delight.
Dilettante in a sentence
Here are example sentences showing dilettante in a sentence.
He was dismissed as a dilettante who flitted between hobbies.
He approached painting as a dilettante, dabbling for a season before abandoning it for some newer pursuit.
Using “dilettante” well
Dilettante usually carries a faintly dismissive tone, suggesting superficial dabbling rather than serious study. It pairs with amateur and dabbler, though amateur can be neutral while dilettante rarely is.
More GRE words starting with D
to engage in something superficially or as a casual pastime
a raised platform for speakers or honored guests
to waste time or act without urgency
to make something slightly wet, or to make a feeling or reaction less strong
marked with spots or patches of color or light
to intimidate or discourage with fear or doubt
to move slowly or waste time idly
a scarcity or shortage of something
Questions about “dilettante”
See these words the way the GRE tests them.
Definitions in isolation do not stick. Sit a free, full-length GRE mock and meet this vocabulary inside real text completion and sentence equivalence questions, with your score and a worked solution for every answer.