hobbyist

Etymology

, Le Philatéliste (The Philatelist, 1929). The painting depicts a philatelist – one type of hobbyist]] hobby + -ist.

noun

1. A person who is interested in an activity or a subject as a hobby.
   This computer magazine is targeted at both professionals and hobbyists.
   [Letters will not be answered if addressed] to a lady who is so busy with his own verses, or a scholar with a Greek scholium, or a hobbyist with his hobby, or any many with his own schemes and projects however good and important they may be, that he feels no interest in the concerns of others. 1829 April, Urbanus [pseudonym], “Minor Morals—Answering Letters”, in The Christian Observer, volume XXIX, number IV (328 overall), London: Printed by Ellerton and Henderson,[…]; published by J[ohn] Hatchard and Son,[…], published 1830, →OCLC, page 229, column 1
   If the Transmississippi Congress shall be left free to work out its normal purposes, to stand as a free platform for the discussion of matters proper and vital to the western side of the continent, it will survive and continue an agency of vast usefulness. But if it is to be victimized by every enthusiast, hobbyist, and crank; if it is to be forced to consider the issues of prohibition, woman's suffrage, parcels-post proposals, and every other kindred agitation, it must speedily be ridden to its death. 17 October 1908, “Editorial Notes”, in Alfred Holman, editor, The Argonaut, volume LXIII, number 1647, San Francisco, Calif.: Argonaut Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 243, column 3
   The typical hobbyist – if there is such a creature – is usually a professional in a field that is oriented toward technology, according to [Alan P.] Hald. […] Most of the hobbyists are still involved with 8-bit machines, Hald said. 19 September 1977, Frank Vaughan, “Hald: Hobbyists Come in Three Varieties”, in E. Drake Lundell Jr., editor, Computerworld: The Newsweekly for the Computer Community, volume XI, number 38, Framingham, Mass.: Computerworld, Inc., →OCLC, page 61, columns 2–3
   In summary, you would have to be an expert, not a beginning hobbyist, at the outset to understand and apply much of the beekeeping information available on the Internet. 2011, Norman Gary, Honey Bee Hobbyist: The Care and Keeping of Bees, Fox Chapel Publishing, page 16
   Presently the skies are cluttered with drones—2.5 million of which were purchased in 2016 by American hobbyists and businesses. 2018 February, Robert Draper, “They are Watching You—and Everything Else on the Planet: Technology and Our Increasing Demand for Security have Put Us All under Surveillance. Is Privacy Becoming just a Memory?”, in National Geographic, Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2018-06-14
   Rail is one of the few industries that can call on a wider netwok of supporters - the hobbyists who support heritage railways, or who take the chance to ride rail tours over rare track or behind heritage locomotives, remain a joyous part of our railways. September 7 2022, Philip Haigh, “Comment: More strikes and poor morale”, in RAIL, number 965, page 3
2. (slang, sex work) A client in a girlfriend experience.
   In other words, a hobbyist wants to feel special, like he is the provider's boyfriend. This interest in extra-sexual experiences by men who frequent prostitutes is well known (Stein 41; Bernstein 126). 2016, Jeffrey R. Young, Commodification of Sexual Labor: The Contribution of Internet Communities to Prostitution Reform, Universal-Publishers, page 158