aficionado

American  

[uh-fish-yuh-nah-doh, ah-fee-thyaw-nah-thaw, ah-fee-syaw-] / əˌfɪʃ yəˈnɑ doʊ, ɑˌfi θyɔˈnɑ ðɔ, ɑˌfi syɔ- /

Sometimes afficionado

noun

plural

aficionados

1. an ardent devotee; fan, enthusiast.

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aficionado British  

/ afiθjoˈnaðo, əˌfɪʃjəˈnɑːdəʊ /

noun

1. an ardent supporter or devotee

   a jazz aficionado

2. a devotee of bullfighting

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Etymology

Origin of aficionado

First recorded in 1835–45; from Spanish: literally, “amateur,” past participle -ado ( -ate ¹ ) of aficionar “to engender affection,” equivalent to afición affection ¹ + -ar infinitive suffix

Example Sentences

If he’s an aficionado of fiction, there’s quite a few in the latest Booker Prize shortlist.

From MarketWatch

Other ideas being bandied about by automobile aficionados: requiring residents to put standard tags on one car before getting historic tags for another, to show drivers have a legal everyday ride.

From The Wall Street Journal

Bartlett, on the other hand, says he is a longtime soccer aficionado who stumbled upon the canceled Total 90 trademark while looking up names for a soccer fantasy app he wanted to develop.

From The Wall Street Journal

Military aficionados will love the jargon and tech, and Mr. Wilson does a masterly job of combining Native American experience and ancestral connection with modern warfare for a satisfying resolution.

From The Wall Street Journal

Davis was a painter’s painter, a deeply thoughtful and idiosyncratic Black voice heard by other artists and aficionados, even while still in invigorating development.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• connoisseur
• devotee
• enthusiast
• fanatic