amateur

American  

[am-uh-choor, -cher, -ter, am-uh-tur] / ˈæm əˌtʃʊər, -tʃər, -tər, ˌæm əˈtɜr /

noun

• amateurs
  plural

1. a person who engages in a study, sport, or other activity for pleasure rather than for financial benefit or professional reasons.

2. an athlete who has never competed for payment or for a monetary prize.

   Synonyms:

   nonprofessional

3. a person inexperienced or unskilled in a particular activity.

   Hunting lions is not for amateurs.

   Synonyms:

   novice, tyro, dilettante

4. a person who admires something; devotee; fan.

   an amateur of the cinema.

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adjective

1. characteristic of or engaged in by an amateur; nonprofessional.

   an amateur painter; amateur tennis.

amateur British  

/ -tʃə, ˌæməˈtɜː, ˈæmətə, -ˌtjʊə /

noun

1. a person who engages in an activity, esp a sport, as a pastime rather than professionally or for gain

2. an athlete or sportsman

3. a person unskilled in or having only a superficial knowledge of a subject or activity

4. a person who is fond of or admires something

5. (modifier) consisting of or for amateurs

   an amateur event

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adjective

1. amateurish; not professional or expert

   an amateur approach

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• amateurism
  noun
• proamateur
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• amateurs
  plural

Etymology

Origin of amateur

1775–85; < French, Middle French < Latin amātor lover, equivalent to amā- (stem of amāre to love) + -tor -tor, replaced by French -teur (< Latin -tōr-, oblique stem of -tor ); see -eur

Explanation

An amateur is a person who does something for enjoyment, not money, like an amateur who paints as a hobby but earns a living another way. The adjective amateur often describes a pastime, like an amateur sports league that people join to get exercise and socialize together. Or it can have a negative meaning and describe something that's poorly done. If your guests leave your dinner table and stop for fast food on the way home, you may be ashamed of your amateur cooking skills. Amateur originated as a French word, meaning "lover of," not "expert."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

amateur amateurs

When bird feeders open for business, as every amateur naturalist quickly learns, other critters often show up.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026

After initially signing with the Angels organization as a teenage international free agent in 2013, Yan eventually spent several years out of affiliated baseball, playing for semipro and amateur teams while also working odd jobs.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

Recent examples include OpenAI’s disproof of the unit distance conjecture, and the proof of Erdős’ problem 1196 by Liam Price, a 23-year-old amateur mathematician.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 6, 2026

The short, dramatic flash it created would have been hard to catch by amateur astronomers even with high-end telescopes, but larger observatories in the Americas are analysing the information.

From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026

At fifteen, Ginnie was about five feet nine in her 9-B tennis shoes, and as she entered the lobby, her self-conscious, rubber-soled awkwardness lent her a dangerous amateur quality.

From "Nine Stories" by J. D. Salinger

As the pre-war avant-garde’s celebration of image-breaking, violent spectacle and weird hybridizing became muddy reality in the field, the amateurs outstripped the professionals.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026

"These are professionals, and when they get people on the phone, they are dealing with amateurs," said Philadelphia attorney Gary Schildhorn, who faced a similar attack in 2020.

From Barron's ● Jun. 3, 2026

He noted that Hezbollah operators were still relative amateurs compared with Russians and Ukrainians but Israel’s defenses fall well short of what’s required to combat them.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 29, 2026

Unusually, Rai wears two gloves instead of the one which virtually everyone else across the world - professional and amateurs alike - wears for enhanced grip.

From BBC ● May 18, 2026

“They’re amateurs compared to us. We can teach you to use your gifts with the precision of a scalpel.”

From "The Reader" by Traci Chee