DILETTANTE Synonyms: 128 Similar and Opposite Words

Q: How does the noun 'dilettante' differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of dilettante are amateur , dabbler , and tyro . While all these words mean "a person who follows a pursuit without attaining proficiency or professional status," 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. // had no patience for dilettantes

Q: When would 'amateur' be a good substitute for 'dilettante'?

Although the words amateur and dilettante have much in common, amateur often applies to one practicing an art without mastery of its essentials; in sports it may also suggest not so much lack of skill but avoidance of direct remuneration. // a painting obviously done by an amateur // remained an amateur despite lucrative offers

Q: When is it sensible to use 'dabbler' instead of 'dilettante'?

The words dabbler and dilettante are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, dabbler suggests desultory habits of work and lack of persistence. // a dabbler who started novels but never finished them

Q: Where would 'tyro' be a reasonable alternative to 'dilettante'?

The meanings of tyro and dilettante largely overlap; however, tyro implies inexperience often combined with audacity with resulting crudeness or blundering. // shows talent but is still a mere tyro

dilettante 1 of 2

adjective

Definition of dilettante next

as in amateur

lacking or showing a lack of expert skill many dilettante efforts could be seen at the sidewalk art show

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

dilettante

2 of 2

noun

ˈdi-lə-ˌtänt

as in tinkerer

a person who regularly or occasionally engages in an activity as a pastime rather than as a profession a dilettante at heart, she was never willing to commit the time and effort that ballet demands

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in scholar

dated a person having a knowledgeable and fine appreciation of the arts she writes about art not from the point of view of an artist but from that of a committed dilettante

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Synonym Chooser

How does the noun dilettante differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of dilettante are amateur, dabbler, and tyro. While all these words mean "a person who follows a pursuit without attaining proficiency or professional status," 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.

had no patience for dilettantes

When would amateur be a good substitute for dilettante?

Although the words amateur and dilettante have much in common, amateur often applies to one practicing an art without mastery of its essentials; in sports it may also suggest not so much lack of skill but avoidance of direct remuneration.

a painting obviously done by an amateur

remained an amateur despite lucrative offers

When is it sensible to use dabbler instead of dilettante?

The words dabbler and dilettante are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, dabbler suggests desultory habits of work and lack of persistence.

a dabbler who started novels but never finished them

Where would tyro be a reasonable alternative to dilettante?

The meanings of tyro and dilettante largely overlap; however, tyro implies inexperience often combined with audacity with resulting crudeness or blundering.

shows talent but is still a mere tyro

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of dilettante

Noun

An even simpler reason is that Trump is a vain, distractible dilettante. —

Andrew Marantz, The New Yorker, 27 Mar. 2024 By then, the mathematician Benoît Mandelbrot had gained a reputation as an academic dilettante. —

Quanta Magazine, 26 Jan. 2024 Efforts to put in additional safeguards proved unsuccessful, however, and Circle would sell the exchange to a consortium of Asian investors, including crypto dilettante Justin Sun, amid a cloud of regulatory uncertainty just a year later for a loss of $156 million. —

Leo Schwartz, Fortune Crypto, 6 Sep. 2023 The dynamic dilettante did $1.7 billion in annual sales in 2021, a record high. —

Marisa Dellatto, Forbes, 16 July 2023 See all Example Sentences for dilettante

Recent Examples of Synonyms for dilettante

Noun

That hasn’t stopped amateurs from giving it their best shot, even before Stalin’s $1 million incentive.

— Eli Wizevich, Smithsonian Magazine, 30 Jan. 2025
Radio amateurs have been using such techniques for years to build antennas as high as 1 kilometer, so the researchers built a kite version prototype.

— Dan Goodin, Ars Technica, 23 Jan. 2025