mankey wrote:Hi

Will appreciate if some expert could highlight the difference between artist and artiste? Will appreciate if usage could also be shown for both the words.

Thanks
Mankey

Hi Mankey!

The term "artist" can be (and is) used for anyone involved in either the fine-arts (painting, sculpture, literature, etc) or performing arts (dance, music, acting, etc).

However, the french translation, "artiste", is typically used in one of two ways in the English language:
(1) a response to the use of "artist" primarily for visual-arts practitioners, the term "artiste" focuses more specifically on individuals in the performing arts.
(2) alternatively, some use the term "artiste" to indicate someone who believes themselves to be a great artist or performer while the world would disagree. Think of this use as a derogatory comment on someone's delusions of artistic grandeur.

But "artiste" is the literal French-to-English translation or "artist" so it is permissible to use them synonymously.

Did you happen to have a GMAT example that required this distinction? I would suspect that if it was found online, it might have been a typo (I doubt the GMAT would test this VERY squishy distinction).


Whit