as in amateur
a person who regularly or occasionally engages in an activity as a pastime rather than as a profession
he's been tinkering with cars since he was a kid, and now he's a tinkerer who knows nearly as much as a mechanic
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Recent Examples of tinkerer
The deal gives Qualcomm direct access to the tinkerers, hobbyists and companies at the lowest levels of the robotics industry.
—
Kif Leswing, CNBC, 7 Oct. 2025
The tinkerer was a socialite and widow named Josephine Cochrane.
—Jeremy Lott, The Washington Examiner, 12 Sep. 2025
His uncle Leo, a naval engineer, noticed that his nephew was a budding tinkerer and gave him a Kodak photo-chemistry set for his sixth birthday.
—Chris Wiley, New Yorker, 9 Sep. 2025
At $3,499, it is clearly not priced for small-scale tinkerers.
—Dave Altavilla, Forbes.com, 26 Aug. 2025
Kif Leswing, CNBC, 7 Oct. 2025
The tinkerer was a socialite and widow named Josephine Cochrane.
—Jeremy Lott, The Washington Examiner, 12 Sep. 2025
His uncle Leo, a naval engineer, noticed that his nephew was a budding tinkerer and gave him a Kodak photo-chemistry set for his sixth birthday.
—Chris Wiley, New Yorker, 9 Sep. 2025
At $3,499, it is clearly not priced for small-scale tinkerers.
—Dave Altavilla, Forbes.com, 26 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tinkerer
Noun
-
The International Padel Federation says the sport is played in more than 140 countries around the world, with about 30 million amateur players.—
Christian Orozco,
NBC news,
23 Sep. 2025
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But on a recent warm September morning, the rhythmic beat of jackhammers crushing concrete with steel and the hissing flow of rush hour traffic greeted a group of amateur ornithologists.—
Karl Schneider,
IndyStar,
22 Sep. 2025
Noun
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With a price of around $170,000, the Switchblade is the most accessible vehicle for hobbyists and private pilots.—
Atharva Gosavi,
Interesting Engineering,
3 Oct. 2025
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Popular Science recently spoke with Tom about his life-long love of cars, the Vacation movies, and his advice for other hobbyists.—
Laura Baisas,
Popular Science,
1 Oct. 2025
Noun
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For laymen, these molecules are involved in chemical reactions that lead to more complex molecules essential to organic life.—
Chris Young,
Interesting Engineering,
2 Oct. 2025
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Still, this hasn't quelled the anxieties of anyone with a professional or layman's interest in space science.—
Stephen Clark,
ArsTechnica,
12 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Not dabblers in the slave trade, tycoons of the slave trade.—
Chadd Scott,
Forbes.com,
28 Aug. 2025
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David Byrne came from Baltimore by way of Scotland, a socially awkward dabbler in conceptualist experiments with photography and a veteran of various mediocre cover bands.—
Marc Weingarten,
Los Angeles Times,
17 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Tinkerer.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tinkerer. Accessed 8 Oct. 2025.
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