Amateur

//ˈæ.mə.t͡ʃɚ// adj, noun

adj, noun ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A lover of something. archaic

    "he conducted extensive correspondence on wines with European suppliers, employing a wine vocabulary familiar to any modern amateur of wines."

  2. 2
    someone who pursues a study or sport as a pastime wordnet
  3. 3
    A person attached to a particular pursuit, study, science, or art (such as music or painting), especially one who cultivates any study, interest, taste, or attachment without engaging in it professionally.

    "The contest is only open to amateurs."

  4. 4
    an athlete who does not play for pay wordnet
  5. 5
    Someone who is unqualified or insufficiently skillful.

    "The entire thing was built by some amateurs with screwdrivers and plywood."

Adjective
  1. 1
    Non-professional.
  2. 2
    Created, done, or populated by amateurs or non-professionals.

    "amateur sports"

  3. 3
    Showing a lack of professionalism, experience or talent.

    "Duct tape is a sure sign of amateur workmanship."

Adjective
  1. 1
    engaged in as a pastime wordnet
  2. 2
    lacking professional skill or expertise wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
amateurishdabblerdilettanteabecedarianadmireraesthete

Example

More examples

"The point we must clarify here is that the lines between amateur and professional in sport are beginning to disappear."

Etymology

Borrowed from French amateur, from Latin amātor (“lover”), from amāre (“to love”).

Related phrases

amateur houramateur nightamateur press associationamateur radioradio amateur

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.