Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A foolish, inept, or unattractive person.
  • noun A person who is single-minded or accomplished in scientific or technical pursuits but is felt to be socially inept.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun slang, sometimes derogatory A person who is intellectual but generally introverted
  • noun informal, sometimes derogatory One who has an intense, obsessive interest in something.
  • noun slang An unattractive, socially awkward, annoying, undesirable, and/or boring, person; a dork.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an insignificant student who is ridiculed as being affected or boringly studious
  • noun an intelligent but single-minded expert in a particular technical field or profession

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Origin unknown.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Unknown

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Examples

  • I was merrily typing away to friends in some primitive chat room on my IBM XT (super nerd), listening to some music (probably Flock of Seagulls -- nerd++), and watching Back to the Future with the sound off (neeeeerrrrrrrd).

    Archive 2006-08-01 Kylie Willison 2006

  • I was merrily typing away to friends in some primitive chat room on my IBM XT (super nerd), listening to some music (probably Flock of Seagulls -- nerd++), and watching Back to the Future with the sound off (neeeeerrrrrrrd).

    Nerd Attention Deficiency Disorder Kylie Willison 2006

  • By Stephanie Castillo YourTango Whether you're a word nerd or a grammarian's nightmare, a study published in Psychological Science says that people with similar language...

    The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com John Tsilimparis 2011

  • My inner word nerd is jumping for joy at the thought of adding this kit to my life.

    blog – syllable studio 2009

  • Videoblogger Ze Frank is in what he calls a nerd fight with Rocketboom producer Andrew Baron.

    2006 October Marshall Kirkpatrick 2005

  • Videoblogger Ze Frank is in what he calls a nerd fight with Rocketboom producer Andrew Baron.

    Rocketboom: Almost 10X Ze Frank’s Downloads Marshall Kirkpatrick 2005

  • However sitting in front of a client and telling them they are idiots and they don't know what they are doing and what I call nerd flexing in front of them never goes over well.

    Denver Post: News: Breaking: Local 2010

  • However sitting in front of a client and telling them they are idiots and they don't know what they are doing and what I call nerd flexing in front of them never goes over well.

    Denver Post: News: Breaking: Local 2010

  • Babylon 5 which I consider one of the great series ... because it DOES have a logical and plotted progression ... still ends with that "noble sacrifice" business so popular in nerd-world.

    Is a grim, dark, nihilistic view of the future in SciFi...groundbreaking? rabid1st 2009

  • However, I feel that nerd is the wrong choice of words and something like geek would be better.

    Superhero Nation: how to write superhero novels and comic books » Yogi’s Review Forum 2009

Comments

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  • My favorite words all rhyme: word, nerd and bird.

    December 30, 2006

  • Word, Bird

    You're a Nerd.

    July 20, 2007

  • First coined by Dr. Seuss in "If I ran the Zoo".

    May 7, 2008

  • O WeirdNet, what level of significance must a nerd attain to cease to qualify as one?

    June 29, 2008

  • Definition #2: ???

    June 30, 2008

  • "And then, just to show them, I'll sail to Ka-Troo And Bring Back an It-Kutch a Preep and a Proo A Nerkle a Nerd and a Seersucker, too!"

    February 28, 2009

  • Long before 'nerd' took on its present meaning, it was commonly used by cartoonists and graphic artists to mean eraser crumbs...

    March 24, 2012