the latest and most sophisticated or advanced stage of a technology, art, or science.
Origin
1960-65
Related forms
state-of-the-art, adjective
Examples from the web for state of the art
Admittedly object recognition software would have to be a lot better than the current state of the art.
Five to three thousand years ago cuneiform was state of the art.
You'd have expected them to have something closer to state of the art here.
Readers interested in the state of the art on the galactic center should read through the overall thread.
They may not be state of the art, but they're not chopped liver, either.
None of those media, of course, are anyone's idea of state of the art.
But given the state of the art, his team told him, that was impossible.
British Dictionary definitions for state of the art
state of the art
noun
1.
the level of knowledge and development achieved in a technique, science, etc, esp at present
adjective (prenominal)
2.
the most recent and therefore considered the best; up-to-the-minute: a state-of-the-art amplifier
Slang definitions & phrases for state of the art
state of the art
adjective phrase
The latest; the very newest and most advanced: Many of the escort services are so state-of-the-art that they make Toner's look primitive
[1967+; found by 1889 in the form present status of the art, which anticipates the modern use]
Idioms and Phrases with state of the art
state of the art
The highest level of development, very up-to-date, as in This new television set reflects the state of the art in screen technology. Despite including the word art, this term originated in technology, and its first recorded use appears in a 1910 book on the gas turbine. Today it is often used adjectivally, as in This is a state-of-the-art camera, and sometimes very loosely, as in That movie is state-of-the-art Woody Allen.