aesthetic. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

aesthetic

SYLLABICATION:	aes·thet·ic
PRONUNCIATION:	s-thtk
VARIANT FORMS:	or es·thet·ic
ADJECTIVE:	1. Relating to the philosophy or theories of aesthetics. 2. Of or concerning the appreciation of beauty or good taste: the aesthetic faculties. 3. Characterized by a heightened sensitivity to beauty. 4. Artistic: The play was an aesthetic success. 5. Informal Conforming to accepted notions of good taste.
NOUN:	1. A guiding principle in matters of artistic beauty and taste; artistic sensibility: “a generous Age of Aquarius aesthetic that said that everything was art” (William Wilson). 2. An underlying principle, a set of principles, or a view often manifested by outward appearances or style of behavior: “What troubled him was the squalor of [the colonel's] aesthetic” (Lewis H. Lapham).
ETYMOLOGY:	German ästhetisch, from New Latin aesthticus, from Greek aisthtikos, of sense perception, from aisthta, perceptible things, from aisthanesthai, to perceive. See au- in Appendix I.
OTHER FORMS:	aes·theti·cal·ly —ADVERB


The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.