transcription, транскрипция: [ ˈa-mə-(ˌ)tər, -ˌtu̇r, -ˌtyu̇r, -ˌchu̇r, -chər ]
noun
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: French, from Latin amator lover, from amare to love
Date: 1784
1. : devotee , admirer
2. : one who engages in a pursuit, study, science, or sport as a pastime rather than as a profession
3. : one lacking in experience and competence in an art or science
• am·a·teur·ish ˌa-mə-ˈtər-ish, -ˈt(y)u̇r-, -ˈchu̇r-, -ˈchər- adjective
• am·a·teur·ish·ly adverb
• am·a·teur·ish·ness noun
• am·a·teur·ism ˈa-mə-ˌtər-ˌi-zəm, -ˌt(y)u̇r-, -ˌchu̇r-, -ˌchər-; -ˌtə-ˌri-, -ˌchə-ˌri- noun
Synonyms:
amateur , dilettante , dabbler , tyro mean a person who follows a pursuit without attaining proficiency or professional status. amateur often applies to one practicing an art without mastery of its essentials
a painting obviously done by an amateur
in sports it may also suggest not so much lack of skill but avoidance of direct remuneration
remained an amateur despite lucrative offers
dilettante may apply to the lover of an art rather than its skilled practitioner but usually implies elegant trifling in the arts and an absence of serious commitment
had no patience for dilettantes
dabbler suggests desultory habits of work and lack of persistence
a dabbler who started novels but never finished them
tyro implies inexperience often combined with audacity with resulting crudeness or blundering
shows talent but is still a mere tyro