You searched for: “neophyte”
amateur, amateur, armature, neophyte, novice, tyro
amateur (AM uh toor", AM uh tuhr", AM uh choor", AM uh tyoor") (noun)
Someone who does something for pleasure rather than for payment and anyone with limited skills in, or knowledge of, an activity; a nonprofessional: An amateur is not allowed to play in most professional golf tournaments.

An amateur shouldn't play professional poker for high stakes.

amateur (AM uh toor", AM uh tuhr", AM uh choor", AM uh tyoor") (adjective)
Unskilled, non-professional, done for enjoyment: Chad's amateur skills on the tennis court were evident when he missed the ball so often.
armature (AR muh choor") (noun)
An armor like covering: The armature of this dynamo needs to be repaired.
neophyte (NEE uh fight") (noun)
Any new participant in some activity; beginner, apprentice; a disciple, convert, proselyte, novitiate: Greg, the neophyte, learned the required church procedures very quickly.
novice (NOHV is) (noun)
Someone who is commencing, or who is learning, an activity and has acquired little skill in it; a beginner, an apprentice: Luis is a novice in the blacksmith's trade.
tyro (TIGH roh) (noun)
Someone who is just beginning to learn something and who is new to a field or activity, a trainee, a learner: Doug, the old pro, gave the tyro some tips on how to do the job more efficiently.

Steve's father was an amateur gardener who readily admitted he was a neophyte, really just a tyro, when it came to raising certain bulbs; however, he carefully studied the armature of the corm of each of the species before planting them.

Additional clarifications regarding amateur, neophyte, novice, and tyro

Amateur, the most widely used of these four terms, is applied to someone who follows or pursues any art, study, or other activity simply from the love of doing it.

In certain activities; especially, sports, an amateur is anyone who, regardless of excellence, receives no payment for his or her performance: Alice played as an amateur for five years before becoming a professional.

Neophyte also refers to a beginner (novice, tyro), but the term is usually applied to a recent church convert; especially, to a novice in a religious order and to a recently ordained priest.

A novice is a beginner, a person new to any field or activity: Some young brides are novices when it comes to housekeeping.

Tyro is closely related in meaning to novice; because it refers to someone who is inexperienced: James was a tyro during his first weeks at training camp.

An amateur may be skilled and even experienced, but neophytes, novices, and tyros never are. A neophyte, novice, or tyro may be a professional, but an amateur never is.

—Compiled from information located in
Dictionary of Problem Words and Expressions by Harry Shaw;
McGraw-Hill Book Company; New York; 1975; page 71.
This entry is located in the following units: Confusing Words Clarified: Group A; Homonyms, Homophones, Homographs, Synonyms, Polysemes, etc. (page 5) tyro-, tiro- (page 1)
neophyte (s) (noun), neophytes (pl)
1. A recent convert to a religion; a name given by the early Christians, and still given by the Roman Catholics, to those who have recently embraced the Christian faith: In the book Dick was reading, little Susan was a neophyte and new in the church and was being taught by answering questions about her religion.
2. Someone who is a beginner or a novice who starts to do something that he or she has not done before: Betty was a complete neophyte at playing the piano, having had her very first lesson that day!
Anyone who starts to do something new.
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A person who has not learned to do the right thing.
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This entry is located in the following units: ne-, neo- (page 6) phyto-, phyt-, -phyte (page 10)
Word Entries containing the term: “neophyte”
new neophyte
This entry is located in the following unit: Pleonasms or Tautological Redundancies (page 14)