noun
nerd
nurd
noun
1
Someone who is highly intelligent or studious but socially awkward or introverted.
"He was the classic nerd in school, always buried in a book."
2
Someone with an intense, obsessive passion for a particular subject or hobby.
"She's a total nerd about vintage synthesizers."
"My brother is a huge comic-book nerd."
How to Use Nerd
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishSomeone deeply into intellectual or niche interests — once an insult, now often worn with pride.
When to use it
Once purely an insult, now frequently used affectionately or as a badge of honor (e.g. "movie nerd," "tech nerd").
Common pairings
total nerd
proud nerd
nerd culture
Word Forms
nerds plural
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He was the classic _____ in school, always buried in a book.
Etymology
Origin uncertain — first recorded in 1951 as US student slang. The word appeared a year earlier in Dr. Seuss's If I Ran the Zoo as the name of a fictional creature, which may have helped popularize it.