Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Characteristic of an amateur; not professional.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Pertaining to or characteristic of an amateur; having the faults or deficiencies of an amateur or a non-professional.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective In the style of an amateur; superficial or defective like the work of an amateur.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Suggesting or reflecting the efforts of an amateur; not seeming professional or polished.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective lacking professional skill or expertise

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

amateur +‎ -ish.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word amateurish.

Examples

  • "This is called amateurish ambassadorship," Mr. Erdogan said.

    U.S., Turkey Row Over Press Freedom Erkan Oz 2011

  • The acting, though amateurish, is energetic and delivered with gusto, and the awkward, theatrical dialogue becomes oddly appropriate (if somewhat stiff) in the affected presence of preening Alan.

    Children Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things | BuyZombie.com 2007

  • Google botnet attack was 'amateurish' - The Aurora attacks on Google which prompted it to threaten to pull out of China were carried out by a bunch of amateurs, according to security firm Damballa. read more

    Megite Technology News: What's Happening Right Now 2010

  • The problem is that such performances are by definition amateurish.

    They Are the Very Model of Major Gilbert & Sullivan DVDs Terry Teachout 2011

  • Our play is called amateurish; and we wear proudly the name of amateur, for amateurs is but the

    Tremendous Trifles 1905

  • The problem we had with this style is the bluish color didn't really match the wood-panel flooring, the joints weren't well done and different color mortar from each other, and just looked amateurish, which is kinda funny coming from me.

    OmniNerd 2009

  • "To me, it just seems a bit dotcomish, a bit amateurish, which is fine if you're launching a free service from your garage, not so fine if you've been going for 10 years and have turned over £20+ million," commented angry JustGiving user SteveK on the firm's blog. blog, confirming it was still having problems but added most issues had now been fixed.

    The Register 2009

  • Police found an "amateurish" but potentially powerful bomb that apparently began to detonate but did not explode in a smoking vehicle in Times Square, authorities said Sunday.

    Bomb found in car near Times Square 2010

  • Police found an "amateurish" but potentially powerful bomb that apparently began to detonate but did not explode in a smoking sport-utility vehicle in Times Square, authorities said Sunday.

    Bomb found in car near Times Square 2010

  • Officials said the bomb appeared to be an "amateurish" though potentially deadly.

    Terror in Times Square 2010

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.