hobbyist C2+ Topic:People & Society US /ˈhɑːbiɪst/ UK /ˈhɒbiɪst/ See IPA manual Meanings 1 noun a person who pursues an activity for pleasure in their spare time The model railway was built by a devoted hobbyist. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 noun · a person who pursues an... amateurenthusiastaficionadodabblerdevoteefancier ↔ Opposites professionalexpert Word family Related forms hobby Etymology AI details From hobby ('a pursuit done for pleasure', a shortening of hobby-horse) + the agentive suffix -ist. hobyn Middle English View etymology graph -> Topics People & Society Word Formation & Derivatives External links Google Images Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary # hobbyist **Type:** Word **Level:** C2+ **Part of speech:** noun **IPA (US):** /ˈhɑːbiɪst/ **IPA (UK):** /ˈhɒbiɪst/ ## Meanings 1. a person who pursues an activity for pleasure in their spare time ## Examples - The model railway was built by a devoted hobbyist. ## Synonyms - amateur - enthusiast - aficionado - dabbler - devotee - fancier ## Antonyms - professional - expert ## Related Forms - hobby ## Roots and Affixes - Root: hobyn ## Etymology From hobby ('a pursuit done for pleasure', a shortening of hobby-horse) + the agentive suffix -ist. ## AI Etymology hobbyist comes from hobby ('a pursuit done for pleasure', a shortening of hobby-horse) + the agentive suffix -ist. Morphologically, the ending is part of the etymology: the suffix is attached to the older base named in the history, producing a later English derivative. In present English, the noun sense is "a person who pursues an activity for pleasure in their spare time", so the historical development ends in a clearly identifiable modern dictionary use. The same base also appears in related forms such as hobby. Its semantic neighborhood includes amateur, enthusiast, aficionado, and dabbler, which helps locate the modern sense without adding a separate etymological claim. The named historical forms include Middle English hobyn. ## Topics - People & Society - Word Formation & Derivatives markdown