amateur

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

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR amateur ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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

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

a person inexperienced or unskilled in a particular activity: Hunting lions is not for amateurs.

a person who admires something; devotee; fan: an amateur of the cinema.

adjective

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

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

Related formspro·am·a·teur, adjective

Can be confusedamateur armature

Synonyms for amateur

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR amateur ON THESAURUS.COM

2. nonprofessional. 3. dilettante, tyro, novice.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for amateur

dilettante, tenderfoot, ham, beginner, learner, novice, recruit, neophyte, hopeful, aspirant, abecedarian, layperson, dabbler, greenhorn, tyro, apprentice, probationer, nonprofessional

Examples from the Web for amateur

Contemporary Examples of amateur

Thankfully, the Coleman kids reached a Burger King, and Wahlberg and his amateur biker gang rode off.
Mark Wahlberg’s Pardon Plea: A Look Back At His Troubling, Violent, and Racist Rap Sheet
Marlow Stern
December 7, 2014
Sharp did lots of school plays, which led to a role in amateur operetta, then professional pantomime.
The Brit Who Stormed Broadway
Tim Teeman
December 7, 2014
Today, though, professional and amateur historians can build counter-narratives that are hard to dismantle.
God vs. the Internet. And the Winner is…
Michael Schulson
November 16, 2014
Chicago provides crime reporters and amateur scanner-chasers with more grit and brutality than they can handle combined.
Chicago’s Real-Life 'Nightcrawler'
Justin Glawe
November 14, 2014
That frequency is within the range used by amateur radio operators, so anyone can listen in.
Luxembourg and China Team Up on Private Mission to the Moon
Matthew R. Francis
October 26, 2014

Historical Examples of amateur

All of which seemed very fascinating to the amateur in adventure.
The Black Bag
Louis Joseph Vance
One of them had the appearance of an amateur, the other was an artist, an engraver.
Tales And Novels, Volume 9 (of 10)
Maria Edgeworth
An amateur, however, is carried away by his desire for results.
The Forest
Stewart Edward White
People who live by an art always understand it better than an amateur.
The Room in the Dragon Volant
J. Sheridan LeFanu
Franklin went through life with the joyous inventiveness of the amateur.
The American Mind
Bliss Perry

British Dictionary definitions for amateur

amateur

noun

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

an athlete or sportsman

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

a person who is fond of or admires something

(modifier) consisting of or for amateursan amateur event

adjective

amateurish; not professional or expertan amateur approach

Derived Formsamateurism, noun

Word Origin for amateur

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for amateur

1784, "one who has a taste for (something)," from French amateur "lover of," from Latin amatorem (nominative amator) "lover," agent noun from amatus, past participle of amare "to love" (see Amy). Meaning "dabbler" (as opposed to professional) is from 1786. As an adjective, by 1838.