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

Noun

1. a person who engages in a sport or other activity as a pastime rather than as a profession

2. a person unskilled in a subject or activity

Adjective

1. doing something out of interest, not for money

2. amateurish [Latin amator lover]

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

Translations

amateur [ˈæmətəʳ] n → aficionado/a, amateur m/f;

amateur dramatics → dramas mpl presentados por aficionados; representación f de aficionados

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amateur [ˈæmətəʳ] n → amateur m

adj (Sport) → amateur inv;

amateur dramatics → le théâtre amateur

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amateur [ˈæmətəʳ] n → Amateur m

adj (Sport) → Amateur-;

amateur dramatics → Laientheater nt

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amateur [ˈæmətəʳ] n → dilettante m/f

adj (SPORT) → dilettante;

amateur dramatics n → filodrammatica