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Professional vs Amateur - What's the difference?

professional | amateur |

As nouns the difference between professional and amateur

is that professional is a person who belongs to a profession while amateur is a lover {{term|of}} something.

As adjectives the difference between professional and amateur

is that professional is of, pertaining to, or in accordance with the (usually high) standards of a profession while amateur is non-professional.

professional

English

Noun

(wikipedia professional) (en noun)
  • A person who belongs to a profession
  • A person who earns his living from a specified activity
  • An expert.
  • * 1934 , edition, ISBN 0553278193, page 97:
    • I have learned that there is a person attached to a golf club called a professional'. Find out who fills that post at the Green Meadow Club; invite the ' professional , urgently, to dine with us this evening.

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Of, pertaining to, or in accordance with the (usually high) standards of a profession.
  • *
  • *:His forefathers had been, as a rule, professional men—physicians and lawyers; his grandfather died under the walls of Chapultepec Castle while twisting a tourniquet for a cursing dragoon; an uncle remained indefinitely at Malvern Hill;.
  • That is carried out for money, especially as a livelihood.
  • (lb) Expert.

    • Derived terms

    * non-professional, nonprofessional * professionalism * unprofessional

    amateur

    English

    (wikipedia amateur)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A lover (of) something.
  • * 2006 , John Hailman, Thomas Jefferson on Wine , University of Mississippi 2006, p. x:
    • he conducted extensive correspondence on wines with European suppliers, employing a wine vocabulary familiar to any modern amateur of wines.
  • 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.
    • She is an accomplished amateur woodworker.
  • Someone who is unqualified or insufficiently skillful.
    • The entire thing was built by some amateurs with screwdrivers and plywood.

    Derived terms

    * radio amateur

    Synonyms

    * dilettante * bungler

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Non-professional.
  • Created, done, or populated by amateurs or non-professionals.
    • amateur sports
  • Showing a lack of professionalism, experience or talent.
    • Duct tape is a sure sign of amateur workmanship.

    Derived terms

    * amateur hour * amateur night

    External links

    * * ----