aficionado
Americannoun
-
aficionados
plural
noun
-
an ardent supporter or devotee
a jazz aficionado
-
a devotee of bullfighting
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of aficionado
First recorded in 1835–45; from Spanish: literally, “amateur,” past participle -ado ( see -ate 1) of aficionar “to engender affection,” equivalent to afición affection 1 + -ar infinitive suffix
Explanation
If you really like something and make it your business to study up on its history and characteristics, you could be called an aficionado of that subject. This sort of funny-looking word might seem like it needs a second “f,” but it really doesn’t, and you should hold out on the temptation to add another one. (The single “f” spelling is a result of the word’s Spanish heritage.) The word aficionado implies serious study and fervent interest, but you can think of it as just a fancy way to say fan. You could call yourself a football aficionado, for example, if you think that sounds more impressive than just saying you’re a football fan.
Vocabulary lists containing aficionado
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The Night Circus
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Moreover, he’s a chess-playing, gourmet cooking, crime fiction aficionado and jazz lover equally comfortable on the mean streets of East Daygo and in the lush life of La Jolla Farms estates.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
It was that exact spirit of inquiry, within an article about the history of the doo-wop revival, that caught the attention of another doo-wop aficionado from South Jersey.
From Salon ● Jul. 29, 2026
"I'm not really a musical expert or aficionado," he says.
From BBC ● May 24, 2026
Part audiophile, part pop-culture aficionado, the budding DJ is the life of the party, even away from the function.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 28, 2026
Mary asked Helen, an aficionado of the outdoors, to take Janice trekking with a full backpack, first on Buckroe Beach, then up into Virginia’s Shenandoah mountains.
From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly
In the meantime, some aficionados are going to extremes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
He went to bat for gummy aficionados during oral argument.
From Slate ● Jun. 18, 2026
Beyond hedging, Kalshi said that its new markets also provide retail speculators and casual art aficionados a way to get in on the auction action.
From Barron's ● May 26, 2026
Now they’re rising again, a battalion of restored and replica specimens, beloved by road-trippers, kitsch aficionados, artists, preservationists and savvy entrepreneurs.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 12, 2026
It is these aficionados, these rêveurs, who see the details in the bigger picture of the circus.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
