amateur

am·a·teur  (m-tûr, -tr, -chr, -chr, -tyr)

n.

1. A person who engages in an art, science, study, or athletic activity as a pastime rather than as a profession.

2. Sports An athlete who has never accepted money, or who accepts money under restrictions specified by a regulatory body, for participating in a competition.

3. One lacking the skill of a professional, as in an art.

adj.

1. Of or performed by an amateur.

2. Made up of amateurs: an amateur cast.

3. Not professional; unskillful.

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[French, from Latin amtor, lover, from amre, to love.]

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ama·teur·ism n.

Synonyms: amateur, dabbler, dilettante
These nouns mean one engaging in a pursuit but lacking professional skill: a musician who is a gifted amateur, not a professional; a dabbler in the stock market; a sculptor but a mere dilettante.

Antonym: professional

Word History: When Mrs. T.W. Atkinson remarked in her 1863 Recollections of the Tartar Steppes and their Inhabitants, "I am no amateur of these melons," she used amateur in a sense unfamiliar to us. That sense, "a lover, an admirer," is, however, clearly descended from the senses of the word's ultimate Latin source, amtor, "lover, devoted friend, devotee, enthusiastic pursuer of an objective," and from its Latin-derived French source, amateur, with a similar range of meanings. First recorded in English in 1784 with the sense in which Mrs. Atkinson used it, amateur is found in 1786 with a meaning more familiar to us, "a person who engages in an art, for example, as a pastime rather than as a profession," a sense that had already developed in French. Given the limitations of doing something as an amateur, it is not surprising that the word is soon after recorded in the disparaging sense we still use to refer to someone who lacks professional skill or ease in performance.

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amateur [ˈæmətə -tʃə -ˌtjʊə ˌæməˈtɜː]

n

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

2. (General Sporting Terms) 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

adj

amateurish; not professional or expert an amateur approach

[from French, from Latin amātor lover, from amāre to love]

amateurism  n

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	amateur - someone who pursues a study or sport as a pastime individual, mortal, person, somebody, someone, soul - a human being; "there was too much for one person to do" birder, bird watcher - a person who identifies and studies birds in their natural habitats dabbler, dilettante, sciolist - an amateur who engages in an activity without serious intentions and who pretends to have knowledge hobbyist - a person who pursues an activity in their spare time for pleasure
	2.	amateur - an athlete who does not play for pay athlete, jock - a person trained to compete in sports outdoor man, sporting man - someone who enjoys outdoor activities pro, professional - an athlete who plays for pay
Adj.	1.	amateur - engaged in as a pastime; "an amateur painter"; "gained valuable experience in amateur theatricals"; "recreational golfers"; "reading matter that is both recreational and mentally stimulating"; "unpaid extras in the documentary" recreational, unpaid nonprofessional - not professional; not engaged in a profession or engaging in as a profession or for gain; "the nonprofessional wives of his male colleagues"; "nonprofessional actors"
	2.	amateur - lacking professional skill or expertise; "a very amateurish job"; "inexpert but conscientious efforts"; "an unskilled painting" amateurish, inexpert, unskilled unprofessional - not characteristic of or befitting a profession or one engaged in a profession; "described in unprofessional language so that high school students could understand it"; "was censured for unprofessional conduct"; "unprofessional repairs"

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amateur

noun

nonprofessional, outsider, layman, dilettante, layperson, non-specialist, dabbler He is an amateur who dances because he feels like it.

adjective

1. nonprofessional, lay, dilettante an amateur dramatics society

2. incompetent, unable, cowboy (informal), useless, incapable, insufficient, floundering, bungling, unfit, unfitted, inept, ineffectual, incapacitated, inexpert, skill-less, unskilful They gave a performance which easily capped our amateur efforts.

Translations

amateur [ˈæmətəʳ]

A. N

1. (lit) (= non-professional) → amateur mf; (= hobbyist) → aficionado/a m/f
he boxed first as an amateur then as a professional → boxeó primero como amateur y después como profesional
an enthusiastic amateur → un amateur entusiasta
I love gardening but I'm just an amateur → me encanta la jardinería, pero no soy más que un aficionado

2. (pej) → chapucero/a m/f
those guys are amateurs! → ¡esos tipos son unos chapuceros!

B. ADJ

1. (= not professional) [athlete, actor, production] → amateur; [club, competition] → para amateurs, para aficionados
amateur athletics/photography → atletismo/fotografía para amateurs
an amateur photographer → un aficionado a la fotografía → un fotógrafo aficionado
an amateur detective → un detective aficionado
I have an amateur interest in pottery → me interesa la cerámica como aficionado
amateur status → condición f de amateur

2. (pej) [production, performance] → de aficionados, chapucero
it was a very amateur performance → fue una actuación de aficionados or muy chapucera

C. CPD amateur dramatics NSING → teatro m amateur, teatro m de aficionados

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amateur [ˈæmətə^r]

n

(= non-professional) → amateur m

(pejorative) (unskilled, amateurish) → amateur m
He's such an amateur! → C'est un amateur!

adj

(= non-professional) [sportsperson, musician, photographer] → amateur inv; [sport, rowing, athletics] → amateur inv; [video] → amateur inv

(pejorative) (= unskilled, amateurish) → amateur inv
amateur dramatics

n → théâtre m amateur

modif [club, group, class] → de théâtre

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amateur

n

→ Amateur(in) m(f)

(pej) → Dilettant(in) m(f)

adj

attr → Amateur-; amateur boxing/competition → Amateurboxen nt → /-wettkampf m; amateur gardener → Hobbygärtner(in) m(f); amateur painter → Hobbymaler(in) m(f); amateur photographer → Hobby- or Amateurfotograf(in) m(f); amateur video → Amateurvideo nt

(pej) = amateurish

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amateur [ˈæmətəʳ]

1. n → dilettante m/f

2. adj (player, painter) → dilettante; (activity) → dilettantistico/a, per dilettanti
amateur dramatics → filodrammatica

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amateur

n amateur [ˈӕmətə, (American ) -tʃər]

1 a person who takes part in a sport etc without being paid for it The tennis tournament was open only to amateurs. amateur الهَاوِي любител amatér, neprofesionál amatør der/die Amateur(in) ερασιτέχνης aficionado, amateur amatöör آماتور؛ غیرحرفه ای amatööri amateur/-trice חוֹבֵב शौकीन, अव्यवसायी amater amatőr amatir áhugamaður dilettante, non professionista アマチュア 아마추어 mėgėjas amatieris amatur amateur amatør amator amador amator любитель amatér, -ka ljubitelj, amater amater amatör มือสมัครเล่น amatör 業餘參與者 любитель بلا معاوضہ کھیلنے والا کھلاڑی vận động viên nghiệp dư 业余活动者

2 someone who does something for the love of it and not for money For an amateur, he was quite a good photographer. amateur هَاوِ любител amatér amatør der/die Amateur(in) ερασιτέχνης aficionado asjaarmastaja دوستدار harrastaja amateur חוֹבֵב amater műkedvelő demi kesenangan áhugamaður dilettante, appassionato 愛好家 애호가 mėgėjas amatieris amatur amateur amatør amator amador amator любитель amatér, -ka amater amater amatör มือสมัครเล่น amatör 業餘愛好者 любитель شوقیہ فن کار nghiệp dư 业余爱好者

adj

an amateur golfer; amateur photography. amateurlik هِوَايَة любител amatérský amatør- Amateur-... ερασιτεχνικός aficionado, amateur amatöör- تازه کار؛ ناشیانه harrastaja- amateur חוֹבֵבַן शौकीन amaterski műkedvelő amatir áhuga- dilettante, dilettantistico アマチュアの 아마추어인 mėgėjas amatieru- amatur amateur- amatør- amatorski, niezawodowy amador amator любительский amatérsky amaterski amaterski amatör- สมัครเล่น amatör 業餘的 любительський شوقیہ nghiệp dư 业余的

adj amaˈteurish [-ˈtəː-]

not very skilful an amateurish drawing. amateuragtig غَير مُتْقَن، قَلِيل المَهَارَة، كَهِوايَة любителски amatérský, diletantský amatøragtig; dilettantisk dilettantisch αδέξιος chapucero, poco profesional asjaarmastajalik ناشیانه harrastelijamainen d'amateur חוֹבֵבָנִי अप्रवीण amaterski szakszerűtlen amatiran viðvaningslegur da dilettante しろうとの 아마추어 같은 mėgėjiškas, diletantiškas diletantisks; nemākulīgs amatur amateuristisch amatørmessig nieprofesjonalny, dyletancki mal-acabado de amator дилетантский diletantský nestrokoven diletantski amatörmässig สมัครเล่น amatörce 半調子的 аматорський, непрофесійний کچے پن سے không chuyên 不够熟练的

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amateur → هاوٍ amatér amatør Amateur ερασιτέχνης aficionado amatööri amateur amater dilettante アマチュア 아마추어 amateur amatør amator amador любитель amatör มือสมัครเล่น amatör người nghiệp dư 业余爱好者