Definition of amateur Amateur

/æˈmʌtɚˌ/ - [atmuter] - am•a•teur

We found 14 definitions of amateur from 7 different sources.

What does amateur mean?

WordNet

Noun Plural: amateurs
amateur - someone who pursues a study or sport as a pastime
		mortal, somebody, someone, individual, person, soul a single organism
		birder, bird watcher a person who identifies and studies birds in their natural habitats
		dilettante, sciolist, dabbler an amateur who engages in an activity without serious intentions and who pretends to have knowledge
amateur - an athlete who does not play for pay
		pro, professional an argument in favor of a proposal
		athlete, jock a person trained to compete in sports
Adjective
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"
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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Wiktionary

amateur (Noun)
A person attached to a particular pursuit, study, or science as to music or painting; especially one who cultivates any study or art, from taste or attachment, without pursuing it professionally.
amateur (Noun)
Someone who is unqualified or insufficiently skillful.
amateur (Adjective)
Non- professional.
amateur (Adjective)
Created, done, or populated by amateurs or non-professionals.
amateur (Adjective)
Showing a lack of professionalism, experience or talent.

Webster DictionaryWebster's Unabridged Dictionary 📘

amateur (n.)
A person attached to a particular pursuit, study, or science as to music or painting; esp. one who cultivates any study or art, from taste or attachment, without pursuing it professionally.

OmegaWiki DictionaryOmegaWiki Dictionary Ω

amateur
Someone who pursues something as a hobby.

Chambers DictionaryChamber's 20th Century Dictionary 📕

amateur
am′at-ūr, or am-at-ār′, n. one who cultivates a particular study or art for the love of it, and not professionally: in general terms, one who plays a game for pleasure, as distinguished from a professional who plays for money—nearly every game has its special definition to meet its own requirements.—adjs. Amateur; Amateur′ish, imperfect and defective, as the work of an amateur rather than a professional hand.—adv. Amateur′ishly.—ns. Amateur′ishness; Amateur′ism, Amateur′ship. [Fr.—L. amator, a lover, amāre, to love.]

Wikipedia

The word amateur is normally used to mean: somebody who does something (e.g. a job) without being paid for it, or without having had training or education for it.

The opposite of an amateur is a professional. A professional is someone who has had formal training for something. He (or she) will expect to be paid a professional fee for the job.

The word “amateur” comes from a French word meaning: "lover of". An amateur is someone who does something (e.g. play the piano, football) because they enjoy doing it. They are not doing it in order to be paid. It is not how they earn money to live.

People often forget the real meaning of the word “amateur”. It is often used to mean: someone who is not good at something. Someone’s performance might be described as “amateurish”, i.e. not very good. On the other hand, they might be described as having done a very “professional” job, i.e. a very good job.

Although one might expect a professional to be better than an amateur, this is not always the case. Someone might be a very good amateur pianist, possibly better than some professionals.

In many sports (e.g. tennis or football), amateurs and professionals used not to be allowed to compete against one another. This was not always because amateurs were thought to be not as good as professionals. In some countries, such as Great Britain in Victorian times, this used to be because of social class distinction. Amateur cricketers were rich gentlemen from the upper classes who did not want to asso

Part of speech

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amateur, noun, singular of amateurs.

Pronunciation

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Sign Language

amateur in sign language

Definition of amateur Amateur

What does amateur mean?

WordNet

Noun

Adjective