amateur night
Americannoun
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an entertainment featuring amateur performers, often in competition for prizes.
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Informal. an example of or situation marked by flagrant ineptitude.
Critics say it's been amateur night at the embassy since the new ambassador took over.
Etymology
Origin of amateur night
First recorded in 1930–35
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.
Take the sequence in which the Jackson 5 makes a smash appearance singing “ABC” at an Apollo Theater amateur night in 1969.
From New York Times ● Feb. 1, 2022
She eventually turned a flirtation with one of her customers, who worked at the Apollo, into a slot for the Ronettes at its legendary amateur night.
From The Guardian ● Dec. 12, 2019
His father ran music halls and when he was just 16, Stan managed to persuade the owner of Glasgow's Britannia Panopticon to give him a slot during amateur night.
From BBC ● Jan. 7, 2019
They went from Gary’s annual show to amateur night at Chicago’s Regal Theater, then to Harlem’s famed Apollo.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 27, 2018
Then as a one-man band he competed with others at a movie house on amateur night.
From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith
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.
