amateur Hear it!

amateur definition

ama·teur (am′ə c̸hər, -c̸ho̵or′; -ə tʉr′, -ə tər)

noun

  1. a person who engages in some art, science, sport, etc. for the pleasure of it rather than for money; a nonprofessional; specif., an athlete who is variously forbidden by rule to profit from athletic activity
  2. a person who does something without professional skill
  3. a person who is somewhat unskillful

Etymology: Fr < L amator, lover < pp. of amare, to love

adjective

  1. of or done by an amateur or amateurs
  2. being an amateur or made up of amateurs
  3. amateurish

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

amateur Synonyms

amateur

modif.

nonprofessional, lay, unpaid, inexperienced, avocational, dilettantish, amateurish, unskilled, inexpert, sandlot*; see also inexperienced.


amateur

n.

nonprofessional, layman, layperson, beginner, novice, learner, dabbler, recruit, dilettante, probationer, aspirant, hopeful, tyro, abecedarian, neophyte, initiate, apprentice, do-it-yourselfer, hobbyist, putterer, freshman*, tenderfoot*, ham*, rookie*, greenhorn*, cub*, fumbler*, bungler*, clod*; see also beginner.

Antonyms veteran*, professional*, expert.

amateur refers to one who does something for the pleasure of it rather than for pay and often implies a relative lack of skill; a dilettante is an amateur in the arts, usually applied disparagingly to a superficial dabbler; novice and neophyte refer to one who is a beginner, hence inexperienced, in some activity, neophyte carrying additional connotations of youthful enthusiasm; tyro refers to an inexperienced but self-assertive beginner and generally connotes incompetence


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

amateur Usage Examples

Adjective modifier

  • enthusiastic: Surrounded by an army of enthusiastic amateurs running around desperate to please, nothing seemed to go right.

Modifies a noun

  • dramatics: At Oxford, he engaged in amateur dramatics, expressing a wish to be an actor.

Modifying Another Word

  • strictly: Arguably it is Gary, the eldest of her offspring who exercises his endowment in a strictly amateur way, who epitomizes the family.

Noun used with modifier

  • radio: The courses are run in a friendly informal atmosphere by experienced radio amateurs.

Used with adjective complement

  • aspire: Camera shake looks plain amateurish, and we all know the ' professional look ' is the holy grail of any aspiring amateur.

Preposition: in

  • field: He was respected as a historian and as a gifted amateur in the field of archeology.
amateur usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

amateur quotes

A sure sign of an amateur is too much detail to compensate for too little life.

-Wilson

In love as in sport, the amateur status must be strictly maintained.

-Graves, Robert von Ranke

amateur quotes (more)

Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Link to this page:

Cite this page:

MLA Style

"amateur." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 4 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/amateur>

APA Style

amateur. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 4th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/amateur

Comments:

Please or Register to post a comment