Diletta is an Italian name. It means beloved and beautiful. Seams shy but inside she is clever and adorable. She is also spontaneously funny and is a good kisser (kiss master). Girls want to be her and boys want to have her.
by Diletta December 15, 2014
Get the Diletta mug.Person who who relentlessly fails to figure out what they “want to do with their life” and thus flits from interest to interest like a hummingbird among lilies. Often well-meaning, empathetic, and creative, the dilettante shoots him/herself in the foot over and over again by forsaking specific skills and knowledge and starting from scratch.
Traditionally, only royalty and aristocrats could play at dilettantism, but the type has proliferated since since mid-century prosperity in North America, Europe, and elsewhere has expanded the middle- and, especially, upper-middle class. The dilettante has reached its apotheosis in contemporary millennials, especially college-educated ones. They tend to feel alienated by corporate culture and spurned by the economic crisis, and postpone taking on family responsibility, which usually ends dilettantism, until later than previous generations.
The dilettante is an easy target for scorn, but essentially tragic, often overwrought, full of angst, sometimes tormented by the “grass is greener” fantasy. Most dilettantes eventually grow out of their dilettantism—making it a phase disease—and settle into something that provides constancy and direction to their lives.
Traditionally, only royalty and aristocrats could play at dilettantism, but the type has proliferated since since mid-century prosperity in North America, Europe, and elsewhere has expanded the middle- and, especially, upper-middle class. The dilettante has reached its apotheosis in contemporary millennials, especially college-educated ones. They tend to feel alienated by corporate culture and spurned by the economic crisis, and postpone taking on family responsibility, which usually ends dilettantism, until later than previous generations.
The dilettante is an easy target for scorn, but essentially tragic, often overwrought, full of angst, sometimes tormented by the “grass is greener” fantasy. Most dilettantes eventually grow out of their dilettantism—making it a phase disease—and settle into something that provides constancy and direction to their lives.
Jenna: So, what do you do?
Dillon: Well, I studied business. Then I worked at a bank. But I hated it. So I traveled around the world for a while. Then I worked on an organic farm, in Montana, where I took up landscape painting. But somehow I still felt incomplete, so I moved to the city and I'm thinking about next steps.
Jenna: Wow, that's a lot...
Dillon: Yeah, I'm such a dilettante.
Dillon: Well, I studied business. Then I worked at a bank. But I hated it. So I traveled around the world for a while. Then I worked on an organic farm, in Montana, where I took up landscape painting. But somehow I still felt incomplete, so I moved to the city and I'm thinking about next steps.
Jenna: Wow, that's a lot...
Dillon: Yeah, I'm such a dilettante.
by gallimaufabout August 4, 2016
Get the dilettante mug.Related Words
A person prone to become mildly involved with or superficially interested in various subjects instead of developing any specific skill or knowledge to its fullest. Often used to describe amateur or wanna-be artists.
John, a dilettante who played seven muscial instruments, couldn't get a spot in the school band because he didn't play any single instrument well.
by Luke August 23, 2004
Get the dilettante mug.by Babydoll75 March 8, 2019
Get the Dilettante mug.An inept dilettante without redeeming qualities. A self-absorbed person who repeatedly fails to figure out what they "want to do with their life." Whenever you talk to them, they harp on all the new, pretentious stuff they're doing badly. Dilettwats lack any semblance of grit. They are take off on flights of fancy about their futures, but forsake plans at the first sign of adversity. You have little hope for them. They are so navel-gazing and annoying you do not even want them succeed. When conversing with a dilettwat, if you start talking about yourself, their eyes glaze over and you can tell they're thinking about one of their crackpot projects. The best thing to do when stuck talking to a dilettwat at a party is to chug your beer, excuse yourself and walk away shaking your head.
Bob: Hey Dill, how’s it going?
Dill *sad and frustrated*: Horrible. I slept in and missed yoga class this morning. Then I fell off my unicycle. Then I got so mad 'cause I just couldn't figure out this Bob Marley song on my uke. Then, to top it all off, I got stung like fifteen times trying to harvest the honey from my beehives!
Bob: Dude, do you even have a job.
Dill: ...job?
Bob *shaking head and walking away*: You’re such a dilettwat.
Dill *sad and frustrated*: Horrible. I slept in and missed yoga class this morning. Then I fell off my unicycle. Then I got so mad 'cause I just couldn't figure out this Bob Marley song on my uke. Then, to top it all off, I got stung like fifteen times trying to harvest the honey from my beehives!
Bob: Dude, do you even have a job.
Dill: ...job?
Bob *shaking head and walking away*: You’re such a dilettwat.
by gallimaufabout August 4, 2016
Get the Dilettwat mug.Someone who spends all their time watching DIY shows, going to DIY websites, and reading DIY books but never actually does any DIY projects to completion.
Maggie’s roommate Sophia is a real DIY Dilettante. She’s got at least three dozen half finished projects lying around their apartment and she still hasn’t finished replacing the faucet in the 2nd bathroom.
"Honey, you need to face facts. You're a DIY Dilettante and you need to finish at least one of these projects. I mean, how hard is it to finish painting the living room wall?"
"Honey, you need to face facts. You're a DIY Dilettante and you need to finish at least one of these projects. I mean, how hard is it to finish painting the living room wall?"
by Brett Burkhardt April 27, 2008
Get the DIY Dilettante mug.A portmanteau of dilettante and retard. Those *lovely* men and women who flit from one job to the next, never really doing a single one well, but determined to find their "true calling in life." often while being supported by mom & dad or a rich husband. Always very determined in their interviews, this breed starts to lose enthusiasm as soon as a task can't be easily completed or is too boring or beneath them.
Jane, the new girl, keeps talking about her wedding instead of finishing that project. She's such a dilettard.
by lomassi December 11, 2008
Get the Dilettard mug.