amateur

[ am-uh-choor, -cher, -ter, am-uh-tur ]

noun

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

adjective

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

   an amateur painter; amateur tennis.

amateur

/ ˈæmətə; ˌæməˈtɜː; -ˌtjʊə; -tʃə /

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

adjective

1. amateurish; not professional or expert

   an amateur approach

Derived Forms

• ˈamateurism, noun

Other Words From

• pro·ama·teur adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of amateur¹

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 ); -eur

Word History and Origins

Origin of amateur¹

C18: from French, from Latin amātor lover, from amāre to love

Example Sentences

In April Christina Massey, a Brooklyn-based artist, created Artists for the USPS, an Instagram-driven group that connected amateur and professional artists in pairs, all as part of a move to help support the service.

From MIT Technology Review

Obviously, given that these are informal cookbooks full of recipes written by amateur chefs, not everything works.

From Eater

Alex Hill, a Brooklyn-based amateur chef, is bringing people together through social media.

From Essence.com

The technical barriers could prevent millions of amateur investors losing their shirts, which is what happened when the 2017 bubble popped.

From Fortune

These amateurs who think they’re experts don’t stand a chance, but do stand a chance of really getting sucked in.

From Freakonomics

Launched late last week, Ready for Romney appears to be, at best, political amateur hour.

From The Daily Beast

Can you imagine Superman being handed over to a writer just a notch above amateur?

From The Daily Beast

Thankfully, the Coleman kids reached a Burger King, and Wahlberg and his amateur biker gang rode off.

From The Daily Beast

Sharp did lots of school plays, which led to a role in amateur operetta, then professional pantomime.

From The Daily Beast

Today, though, professional and amateur historians can build counter-narratives that are hard to dismantle.

From The Daily Beast

To assist the amateur and collector in this pursuit is the object of the present little work.

From Project Gutenberg

A Cremona Violin is, to a rich amateur, a loadstone that is sure to attract the shining metal from the depths of his purse.

From Project Gutenberg

The tone is with few exceptions sweet in quality and seldom powerful, but admirably suited to the amateur.

From Project Gutenberg

The Dictionary we have compiled will tell the amateur what names will most probably supply the qualities he desires.

From Project Gutenberg

In considering the first point, power, the amateur will have to beware of a very possible mistake he may fall into.

From Project Gutenberg