> Amateur, at least in common American English, is virtually never used in a positive or neutral sense. "Amateur astronomy"[1] doesn't have negative connotatio

> Amateur, at least in common American English, is virtually never used in a positive or neutral sense. "Amateur astronomy"[1] doesn't have negative connotations. And I don't think this is an exception that proves the rule - as a native speaker of North American English, amateur can have negative connotations, but that isn't the default. That said, in this particular case, something like "hobbyist" might fit better. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amateur_astronomy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amateur_astronomy