Word Confusion: Artist versus Artiste

Posted December 21, 2023 by Kathy Davie in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

I came across this word confusion artist vs artiste and I was curious as to the difference.

It turns out that both are fairly similar. If you want to be more specific:

An artist is someone primarily skilled in the arts. Those arts can include a profession . . . and crime.
An artiste is primarily someone in the entertainment field . . . as well as someone skilled in a profession.

If you want to be picky, an artiste is primarily an entertainer.

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Exploring Later . . .

You may have a vague interest in reading “Amulet vs Artifact vs Charm vs Talisman“.

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Word Confusions . . .

. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.

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Artist	Artiste
An Artist is Fquasie‘s own work and is under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons.	Patti Smith Performing, 2007, in Finland, by Beni Köhler is under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons. — Patti Smith is an artiste.
Part of Grammar:
Noun Plural: artists	Noun Plural: artistes
A person who produces paintings, sculptures, or drawings as a profession or hobby A person who practices any of the various creative arts, such as a sculptor, novelist, poet, or filmmaker A person skilled at a particular task or occupation A performer, such as a singer, actor, or dancer [With modifier; informal] An habitual practitioner of a specified reprehensible activity A person whose trade or profession requires a knowledge of design, drawing, painting, etc. [Obsolete] An artisan	A professional entertainer, especially a singer or dancer A person who is highly skilled in some occupation
Examples:
Michelangelo and Rodin were great artists. Da Vinci was an artist in so many fields. A surgeon can be an artist with the scalpel. She’s an artist in the kitchen! Helen Mirren and Judi Dench are amazing artists. He’s a con artist. Watch out for the rip-off artists. She works as a commercial artist. The street markets featured local artists displaying handwoven textiles, painted ceramics, and leather goods.	Rosemary Clooney, Eartha Kitt, Jacques Brel, Debby Boone, and Marlene Dietrich were cabaret artistes. Someone who can cut curly hair and have it look good two months later is a hair artiste. The artist Toulouse-Lautrec is famous for his paintings of artistes. Le Moulin Rouge employed many dance artistes.
Derivatives:
Adjective: artistic Adverb: artistically Noun: artistry
History of the Word:
Mid-16th century, denoting a craftsperson, from the Middle French artiste, from the medieval Latin artista meaning master of arts, from the Latin ars (art) + -ist.	Early 19th century, from the French artiste, from the medieval Latin artista meaning master of arts, from the Latin ars (art) + -ist.

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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!

Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.

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