mindmap root((业余)) amateur often applies to one practicing an art without mastery of its essentials: a painting obviously done by an ~; and in sports it may also suggest not so much lack of skill but avoidance of direct remuneration: must remain an ~ in order to qualify for the Olympics. 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: a serious art teacher with no patience for ~s. dabbler suggests a lack of serious purpose, desultory habits of work, and lack of persistence: a ~ who never finished a single novel. tyro implies inexperience and the attendant incompetence often combined with audacity resulting in crudeness or blundering: a ~ who has yet to master the basics of playwriting.