noun
A literary and artistic movement emphasizing beauty over social or moral themes. Often used in discussions of late 19th-century European art and literature, but also applied to Japanese works influenced by the same ideals.
耽美主義は19世紀末のヨーロッパで盛んになった芸術運動だ。
Aestheticism was an artistic movement that flourished in late 19th-century Europe.
彼の小説には耽美主義の影響が色濃く見られる。
His novels show a strong influence of aestheticism.
Compound of 耽美 (tanbi, 'aesthetic, devotion to beauty') + 主義 (shugi, '-ism'). The term was coined in Japan to translate the Western concept of aestheticism.