[f. ÆSTHETIC + -ISM; cf. critic, criticism, etc.] The quality of being æsthetic; the pursuit of, or devotion to, what is sensuously beautiful.
1855. Brimley, Ess., 237. The Lotos Eaters carries Tennyson’s tendency to pure æstheticism to an extreme point. It is picture and music and nothing more.
1876. E. Mellor, Priesthood, viii. 392. If it [the Ritualistic movement] were nothing but a development of æstheticism, it might be left to pursue its course.
