VocabauraVOCABAURA

amateur

noun · adjective

Simple meaning

A person attached to a particular pursuit, study, science.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

amuhter

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈæmətɚ

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. A person attached to a particular pursuit, study, science, or art (such as music or painting), especially one who cultivates any study, interest, taste, or attachment without engaging in it professionally.

  2. Someone who pursues a study or sport as a pastime

  3. Someone who is unqualified or insufficiently skillful.

adjective

  1. Non-professional.

  2. Showing a lack of professionalism, experience or talent.

  3. Created, done, or populated by amateurs or non-professionals.

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: A person attached to a particular pursuit, study, science, or art (such as music or painting), especially one who cultivates any study, interest, taste, or attachment without engaging in it professionally.

Used this way, amateur is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a musical use: it is everyday language among musicians and listeners, and specialised outside that.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Where it naturally appears

  • Music/performance
  • Arts writing
  • Science

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use amateur

  • “She is an amateur photographer who loves taking pictures of nature.”noun

Share your sentence

Write your own example sentence using “amateur”. We review each one before it appears.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: non-professional

nonprofessional

Use This Word

See how this word sounds in a real sentence.

Ask Vocabaura

Understand the word your way.

What Does It Mean Here?

Words can change meaning depending on context.

Use it yourself

Knowing “amateur” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.

Know the meaning? Practice using it in a real situation, free, no credits.

Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.