Synonyms of tyro

tyro

noun

ˈtī-(ˌ)rō 

as in novice

a person who is just starting out in a field of activity

he's a good musician, but at 14, he's still a tyro and has a lot to learn

Synonyms & Similar Words

• novice
• beginner
• apprentice
• rookie
• newcomer
• freshman
• greenhorn
• neophyte
• tenderfoot
• fledgling
• virgin
• recruit
• newbie
• colt
• rook
• student
• cub
• novitiate
• abecedarian
• punk
• babe
• amateur
• trainee
• boot
• dilettante
• candidate
• learner
• dabbler
• entrant
• probationer

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• veteran
• vet
• master
• expert
• pro
• old-timer
• professional
• old hand

Synonym Chooser

How does the noun tyro differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of tyro are amateur, dabbler, and dilettante. While all these words mean "a person who follows a pursuit without attaining proficiency or professional status," tyro implies inexperience often combined with audacity with resulting crudeness or blundering.

shows talent but is still a mere tyro

When could amateur be used to replace tyro?

While the synonyms amateur and tyro are close in meaning, 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

In what contexts can dabbler take the place of tyro?

The synonyms dabbler and tyro are sometimes interchangeable, but dabbler suggests desultory habits of work and lack of persistence.

a dabbler who started novels but never finished them

When can dilettante be used instead of tyro?

The meanings of dilettante and tyro largely overlap; however, 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

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of tyro

No tyro, Lang may have been cut off in her prime, but her prime is indisputably her own. —Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2025

If Fishman’s math holds up, ESPN could be looking at a 20% boost in overall revenue in just seven years’ time—a feat that likely would be wholly improbable if the sports unit were to maintain the status quo or promote the streaming tyro at the expense of the foundational TV network. —Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 18 Dec. 2024

Rabe also steers the movie’s helm, alongside her life partner and fellow actor Hamish Linklater, and the tyro directors manage to thread a tricky needle with their first feature, navigating the chasm and the overlap between agitated and quiet, between cartoon brightness and angst. —Sheri Linden, The Hollywood Reporter, 8 June 2023

This intelligent, sensitive treatment of the rarely seen, everyday lives of young Palestinian citizens of Israel marks tyro feature writer-director Firas Khoury as a talent to watch, as well as a solid acquisition for Film Movement, the North American distributor. —Alissa Simon, Variety, 22 Nov. 2022

Ayyub played another student leader, a tyro named Shiva Shekhar—not quite the main role, but a key one nevertheless, and a fillip to his career. —Samanth Subramanian, The New Yorker, 10 Oct. 2022

Outfitted in progressively more luscious frocks by Susan Hilferty, Feldstein makes a journey from nervy tyro to nervier pro. —Washington Post, 25 Apr. 2022

When a tyro Steve Jobs or Bill Gates moved a lever back and forth, different configurations of those cylinders caused the Digi-Comp to compute Boolean logic operations. —Jim Sullivan, Discover Magazine, 30 Oct. 2014

Podcast

Get Word of the Day delivered to your inbox!