Not less, different from. And yes, that's the general goal.
The blacksmith whose crafted weapons are artifacts despite her never casting a single spell nor using a single magical ingredient, because the edge she puts on steel exceeds the physical definition of sharpness. The singer, whose voice alone actually beguiles audiences, because music that skillful, that harmonious, compels a response--as when someone bursts out crying at a tragic melody or gasps at the sight of a sublime waterfall. The thief who can take the color of a maiden's eyes, or the name of a famous place, because they have become so skilled at stealing, they can steal immaterial things too.
My term for this is the "transmundane," just as the original term "transfinite" was used for numbers that were greater than any natural number but not absolutely infinite (meaning, they fit into the next-higher-tier of counting, above the natural numbers but below what we now call the "reals"). Likewise, the transmundane covers things greater than any mundane materials, properties, or actions, but not absolutely supernatural. The things that live in the maybe/maybe-not zone, the "no way! ...unless..." space. Which, I freely admit, some of this comes from the fact that I am fully on board for most "Rule of Cool" justifications.