the fine arts
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
Those arts which chiefly depend on a delicate or fine imagination, as music, painting, poetry, and sculpture, as opposed to the useful arts, i.e.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “the fine arts” mean?
Those arts which chiefly depend on a delicate or fine imagination, as music, painting, poetry, and sculpture, as opposed to the useful arts, i.e.
Is “the fine arts” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.