amateur
/ˈæ.mə.t͡ʃɚ/noun, adjective
amateur is spelled A-M-A-T-E-U-R. The wrong spelling people search most is amature: about 3,500 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 2 in 10 of all searches for the word. Amateur is a noun meaning “A person attached to a particular pursuit, study, science, or art (such as music or painting), especially one…”. The plural of amateur is amateurs.
How many letters and syllables are in amateur?
| Letters | 7: A-M-A-T-E-U-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 17 times per million words; the 4,934th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 2; the most searched, amature, about 3,500 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell amateur?
Amateur is spelled A-M-A-T-E-U-R. 2 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 2 in 10 of the searches for amateur in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is amateur?
Amateur appears 17 times per million words in written English, the 4,934th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce amateur?
- UK /ˈæ.mə.tə/
- US /ˈæ.mə.t͡ʃɚ/
- US /ˈæ.mə.t͡ʃʊɚ/
Amateur has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-amateur1.ogg, En-us-amateur2.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of amateur
- amateurs plural
- more amateur comparative
- most amateur superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does amateur mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
archaicA lover of something.
- 2
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.
The contest is only open to amateurs.
- 3
Someone who is unqualified or insufficiently skillful.
The entire thing was built by some amateurs with screwdrivers and plywood.
adjective
- 1
Non-professional.
- 2
Created, done, or populated by amateurs or non-professionals.
amateur sports
- 3
Showing a lack of professionalism, experience or talent.
Duct tape is a sure sign of amateur workmanship.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Amateur in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | amateur, amatrice , amateuse |
| German | Amateur, Amateurin, Laie, Laiin, Liebhaber , amateurhaft |
| Portuguese | amador, amadora , principiante |
| Spanish | amateur , principiante, aprendiz, novato, inadaptado, inexperto |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does amateur come from?
Borrowed from French amateur, from Latin amātor (“lover”), from amāre (“to love”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).