These words describe qualities in a work of art, its creator or its appreciator. Artistic and aesthetic are closely related; most simply, the artistic instinct belongs to the creator, the aesthetic instinct to the beholder: artistic skill; aesthetic pleasure. In another sense, however, the aesthetic attitude might be taken as generic, the artistic attitude as a specific but by no means exhaustive example of the more general term. In this distinction, the aesthetic instinct expresses itself in all areas of life where taste, discrimination, style and balance are desirable: an aesthetic flower arrangement; an aesthetic flair for matching the right wine to the right entrée. In yet another sense, aesthetic describes specifically those discriminations sorted out by aestheticians ; one connotation here may be unnecessary refinement or passivity as opposed to the boldness and activity of the artistic attitude: too bogged down in aesthetic distinctions to have any artistic spontaneity. In describing a work of art rather than an attitude, aesthetic would be largely irrelevant, artistic inane or tautological. Both may be used to praise creations not commonly thought of as works of art: an artistic grouping of furniture.

Arty and mannered both refer to attitudes that tend towards parody of the artistic sensibility. Arty , the more strongly negative of the two, is also the most informal of any of these words. It suggests the phoniness of the poseur or artist manqué, stressing particularly that exaggerated and affected behaviour that may be totally unrelated to the creation of works of art: the arty bohemian crowd in Greewich Village. Mannered is more formal and more restrained in its disapproval. It suggests behaviour that is contrived and unnatural, the mannered , fey look of her costume. The word can also refer to the work of art itself, suggesting the same qualities of contrived artificiality .

Artificial most often refers only to the work, suggesting a lack of spontaneity and of naturalness. It is more negative in tone than mannered . The latter may suggest worthwhile Artificial content that has been harmed by unnecessary stylistic manipulation., on the other hand, suggests a lack of content that a pretentious style is struggling to conceal. Stylized is like mannered and artificial in suggesting an emphasis on mode as opposed to content, but it contrasts with them in ranging from a neutral to an approving tone; the stylized patterns of the kabuki dances. It emphasizes the ordering of the artist’s raw materials into significant, if unrealistic, designs.

Precious is the most negative in tone of any word here and is the most widespread in range, applying to the work, the artist, or to some one who is not artistic in any way. It points to a taste for the genteel and over-elegant, especially when these qualities are as far removed as possible from reality or normality. It suggests a complaisant attempt to be different and striking, and typically results in overstylized affectation ?"slick" in the worst sense of the word: a precious writer of the late 19th century "Mauve Decade" in English literature; a precious way of speaking.

Tasteful and harmonious refer to aesthetic qualities that may be found in artistic works. Tasteful is extremely subjective in referring to what is in accordance with the canons of taste; what is tasteful to one person, such as a pink and purple Christmas tree, might be thought vulgar by another. Harmonious is more objective in pointing to a smooth, well-balanced relation of parts: a harmonious ordering of the room’s spatial relationships. All words in this area are ultimately subjective.