Word.ws English Dictionary

amateur hour

Syllables: ama·teur hourUK/ˈamətə ˈaʊə(ɹ)/US/ˈæmətɚ ˈaʊɚ/

amateur hour noun: an event, particularly on radio or television, showcasing the talents of amateur performers.

amateur hour: an event, particularly on radio or television, showcasing the talents of amateur performers
Image: NBC Radio-NBC photo, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

amateur hour (countable and uncountable, plural amateur hours)

  1. (US) An event, particularly on radio or television, showcasing the talents of amateur performers.
    • Near-synonym: amateur night
    • "Momma was very talented. She liked to act in plays … She used to sing, do a lot of singing in French, you know. … They used to have amateur hours in those days. You didn't have that many places to go." She performed for the amateur hours at church fairs and at St. James High School.2002, Nicole Denée Fontenot, Alicia Fontenot Vidrine, quoting Doris Poirrier, “Pastries, Pies, and Desserts”, in Cooking with Cajun Women: Recipes and Remembrances from South Louisiana Kitchens, New...
    Synonyms:
    amateur night
  2. (US, idiomatic) A situation or activity in which the participants show a lack of skill, sound judgment, or professionalism.
    • Two years into its first term the [Jimmy] Carter Administration developed a foreign policy that seems in perfect continuity with its six predecessors. […] Little change has taken place during what has been called "the amateur hour" except for a slight quickening of the Cold War pulse.1980, Alan Wolfe, “Reflection on Trilaterialism and the Carter Administration: Changed World Realities vs. Vested Interests”, in Holly Sklar, editor, Trilateralim: The Trilateral Commission and Elite...
    • The First World War may have brought, as Dos Passos maintained, an end to "the bully amateur's world," but amateur hour was already closing down as American soldiers struggled up San Juan Hill. Three books written between 1897 and 1899 are flashes that streaked the sky at the moment "the boy...1993, Martha Banta, “Soldiers of Fortune”, in Taylored Lives: Narrative Productions in the Age of Taylor, Veblen, and Ford, Chicago, Ill.; London: University of Chicago Press, →ISBN, page 59

Examples of amateur hour in a sentence

  • [T]alent shows such as Ted Mack’s Original Amateur Hour, which was patterned on the 1930s Major Bowes’ Amateur Hour and Arthur Godfrey[’s] Talent Scouts,^([sic]) went on the air.2017, Ivan Cury, “Reality Programming”, in Directing and Producing for Television: A Format Approach, 5th edition, New York, N.Y....
  • The First World War may have brought, as Dos Passos maintained, an end to "the bully amateur's world," but amateur hour was already closing down as American soldiers struggled up San Juan Hill.1993, Martha Banta, “Soldiers of Fortune”, in Taylored Lives: Narrative Productions in the Age of Taylor, Veblen, and Ford, Chicago, Ill....
  • "Presidential campaigns are not the time for amateur hour."2007 June 21, David Von Drehle, “Will Rudy’s Get-tough image backfire?”, in Time, archived from the original on 09 Jul 2014:

Synonyms of amateur hour

Forms of amateur hour

pluralamateur hours

Origin of amateur hour

, the host of Major Bowes Amateur Hour which was broadcast on the radio in the US from 1934 to 1945]] Probably from the names of series of US radio and television programs such as Major Bowes Amateur Hour (broadcast on the radio 1934–1945) and The Original Amateur Hour (on the radio 1948–1952, and on television 1948–1970).

Questions about amateur hour

What does amateur hour mean?
Amateur hour means an event, particularly on radio or television, showcasing the talents of amateur performers.
How do you use amateur hour in a sentence?
[T]alent shows such as Ted Mack’s Original Amateur Hour, which was patterned on the 1930s Major Bowes’ Amateur Hour and Arthur Godfrey[’s] Talent Scouts,^([sic]) went on the air.
What part of speech is amateur hour?
Amateur hour is a noun.
How do you pronounce amateur hour?
Amateur hour is pronounced /ˈamətə ˈaʊə(ɹ)/ (UK).
What is the plural of amateur hour?
The plural of amateur hour is amateur hours.

Words near amateur hour in the dictionary

  1. Amatembu
  2. Amaterasu
  3. amaterialistic
  4. amates
  5. amateur
  6. amateur hour
  7. amateur hours
  8. amateur night
  9. amateur nights
  10. amateur press association
  11. amateur press associations

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: amateur hour (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-amateur hour.ogg.

Cite this entry: “amateur hour.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/amateur_hour. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.