aficionado

noun

ə-ˌfi-sh(ē-)ə-ˈnä-(ˌ)dō How to pronounce aficionado (audio)
variants also afficionado
Definition of aficionadonext
as in lover
a person with a strong and habitual liking for something an aficionado of the sci-fi series who has seen all the movies several times

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 aficionado Kao was an unusual figure among the company’s low-key naval engineers and boat aficionados. — William Turton, ProPublica, 22 Sep. 2026 Roller coaster aficionados stress that reported injuries need to be weighed against the thousands of riders who have been on X2 without incident. — Fedor Zarkhin, Los Angeles Times, 17 Sep. 2026 For Sky, the issue is less about trying to keep talent and more about showing up in relevant ways for news aficionados. — Brian Steinberg, Variety, 10 Sep. 2026 Jim is an aficionado of NFL lore, nostalgic about the junk wax era and regular viewer of random classic (and some not-so classic) sporting events. — Jim Reineking, USA Today, 7 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for aficionado
Recent Examples of Synonyms for aficionado
  1. lover
  2. fan
  3. enthusiast
  4. sucker
  5. fanatic
Noun
  • The supporting cast is well stocked with character actors who bring humor and pathos to this gaggle of spouses, friends, lovers and bootleggers.
    — Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 1 Oct. 2026
  • Orr’s trail repairs come at a time when outdoors lovers are feeling particularly protective of public lands.
    — Jaclyn Cosgrove, Los Angeles Times, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of lover
Noun
  • As the camera focused on a star player making a touchdown or a slam dunk, the faces of the fans behind them would coalesce into a colorful, murky abstraction.
    — Ryan Sullivan, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2026
  • Hathaway, a New York City native and lifelong Knicks fan, was jokingly credited for their change in fortune by yours truly and a host of others.
    — Marlow Stern, Variety, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of fan
Noun
  • And in the training category, the latest shoe releases including Dropset 4 and Adizero Dropset Pro appear to attract a new cohort based of Hyrox and hybrid training enthusiasts.
    — Vicki M. Young, Footwear News, 25 Sep. 2026
  • This year, there’s something for nearly every interest, from cheese lovers and bookworms to crafty adults and puzzle enthusiasts.
    — Casey DelBasso, ABC News, 24 Sep. 2026
Definition of enthusiast
Noun
  • These sucker shoots can quickly form a thicket of stems that are unsightly, inherently weak, and prone to storm damage if allowed to mature.
    — Luke Miller, Better Homes & Gardens, 16 Sep. 2026
  • One was a regional distributor of garbage trucks, street sweepers, and sewer suckers for municipalities.
    — Eric Zwick, The Atlantic, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of sucker
Noun
  • Slow Horses fanatics will recognize her as one of the veteran MI5 operatives stuck in the agency’s version of purgatory, known as Slough House.
    — David Fear, Rolling Stone, 13 Sep. 2026
  • Nineteen fanatics, acting in the name of Islam, killed 2,997 innocent men, women and children in New York City, in Washington, and on airplanes turned into weapons of mass murder.
    — New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of fanatic

Browse Nearby Words

affronts
aficionado
aficionados
See all Nearby Words

Podcast

Cite this Entry

“Aficionado.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/aficionado. Accessed 2 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of heterodox

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Words of the Week - Oct. 2

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
name tags
Words Named After People Quiz Find out who’s behind "leotard," "morphine," an...
See All