NOVELTY - Deposition for forming a patterned thin film comprises: (a) applying a composition comprising a deposition inhibitor material to a substrate; (b) simultaneously or subsequently to step (a), patterning the deposition inhibitor material to provide selected areas on the substrate where the deposition inhibitor material is absent; and (c) depositing an inorganic thin film on the substrate by chemical vapor deposition only in those areas.    USE - The method is useful for deposition for forming patterned thin film (claimed).    ADVANTAGE - The invention provides selective deposition inhibitors that are soluble in environment-friendly solvents, principally water and alcohols, and can be applied as aqueous formulations.    DETAILED DESCRIPTION - Deposition for forming a patterned thin film comprises: (a) applying a composition comprising a deposition inhibitor material to a substrate; (b) simultaneously or subsequently to step (a), patterning the deposition inhibitor material to provide selected areas on the substrate where the deposition inhibitor material is absent; and (c) depositing an inorganic thin film on the substrate by chemical vapor deposition only in those areas where the deposition inhibitor material is absent, and where the deposition inhibitor material is a hydrophilic polymer that is soluble in an aqueous solution that comprises at least 50% by weight of water, and that has a free acid content of less than 2.5 meq/g of polymer. INDEPENDENT CLAIMS are:    (1) an electronic device obtained from the method, where the electronic device is an integrated circuit, active-matrix display, solar cell, active-matrix imager, sensor, or a radiofrequency (rf) label; and    (2) an electronic device having a substrate and having a deposited pattern of a composition comprising a deposition inhibitor material, and a deposited inorganic thin film disposed only in selected areas of the substrate where the composition comprising a deposition inhibitor material is absent, where the deposition inhibitor material is a hydrophilic polymer.