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"Cineast" is a French borrowing that made its American premiere in the mid-1920s. The French spliced together "ciné" and "-aste" to create "cinéaste," a word for a filmmaker or movie director. "Ciné" in French is just another word for "cinema," and "-aste" is a suffix that appears in words like "gymnaste" and "enthousiaste." "Cinéaste" underwent several changes once it was established in English. Some writers anglicized its spelling, shortening "-aste" to "-ast" (although "cineaste" and "cinéaste" are also still used). Others began to use "cineast" to mean "film buff," and that's the sense that is most common today.

Examples

The once modest film festival is now a huge commercial event that draws cineasts and movie-industry insiders from around the world.

"This just strikes me as a film that cineasts will savor, but the general public might have trouble digesting, considering how bleak and disturbing so many scenes are." - From an article by Bob Tremblay in the Allston-Brighton TAB (Massachusetts), July 13, 2012