First Known Use: 1587
Dictionary
tyro
noun, ty·ro often attributive \ˈtī-(ˌ)rō\
: a person who has just started learning or doing something : a beginner or novice
plural tyros
Full Definition of TYRO
: a beginner in learning : novice
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Origin of TYRO
Medieval Latin, from Latin tiro young soldier, tyro
Related to TYRO
Synonym Discussion of TYRO
amateur, dilettante, dabbler, tyro mean a person who follows a pursuit without attaining proficiency or professional status. amateur often applies to one practicing an art without mastery of its essentials <a painting obviously done by an amateur>; in sports it may also suggest not so much lack of skill but avoidance of direct remuneration <remained an amateur despite lucrative offers>. 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>. dabbler suggests desultory habits of work and lack of persistence <a dabbler who started novels but never finished them>. tyro implies inexperience often combined with audacity with resulting crudeness or blundering <shows talent but is still a mere tyro>.
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