dilettante

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Titus hands power to Saturninus, the eldest son of the late Roman emperor, played with a comic spin as a peevish dilettante by Matthew Amendt.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026

"I like facts, I like knowledge, I like having wide interests. There's various ways of describing such a person, dilettante might be one way and polymath might be another."

From BBC • Nov. 29, 2025

A dilettante prone to colorful tangents, he sees Molly as an object of fascination and a personal cause.

From New York Times • May 29, 2024

The commanding officer of the fort is an inept dilettante played by Ken Berry.

From Washington Post • Jul. 8, 2022

Charles wasn’t a dilettante; he was serious about the breeding and created his own new lines of pigeons.

From "Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith" by Deborah Heiligman