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Boffin is an informal word that is more common in the U.K. than in the U.S. It is a relative newcomer to the English language, only appearing toward the end of World War II. Despite its youth, however, the origins of "boffin" are a mystery to us. The term was probably first applied by British Royal Air Force members to the scientists and engineers working closely with radar technology. The term was soon being more broadly applied to scientists involved in technological research. British speakers also use "boffin" colloquially to refer to academics or intellectuals in general, often in a manner that is synonymous with "nerd" or "egghead."
Examples of boffin in a Sentence
Belinda Luscombe / Boston, TIME, 23 Oct. 2024
But while the race officials get data-rich telemetry streams from all the cars during a race, the teams have to rely on each driver keeping tabs on their own state of charge and reporting that back via radio to the engineers in the garage so the boffins can calculate the optimal strategy.
—Jonathan M. Gitlin, Ars Technica, 19 July 2024
Ironically enough, using AI to help better understand the risks and impact that AI will have on (other) industries in order to better risk adjust investments, is an emerging hot topic among risk boffins.
—Lawrence Wintermeyer, Forbes, 22 Feb. 2024
Biermann has since retired but not before training up a generation of vehicle dynamics boffins, and the Ioniq 5 N is their first full performance EV.
—Jonathan M. Gitlin, Ars Technica, 29 Dec. 2023
Because Science Festival in Adams Morgan Science fans of all ages are welcome at this weekend-long fest, but budding boffins might particularly enjoy sessions in slime making, space painting and paper airplane engineering.
—Chris Richards, Washington Post, 28 Sep. 2023
Neither boffin nor bard will get any quarrel from the powers that be at Hästens: an ultra-premium bedding company, founded in 1852 by Pehr Adolf Janson and now owned by fifth-generation executive chairman Jan Ryde, for whom the pursuit of proper nocturnal rejuvenation is pretty much a religion.
—Nick Scott, Robb Report, 11 Aug. 2023
Cadillac, spare us the output of your fuddy-duddies and give us the promise of your best boffins.
—Csaba Csere, Car and Driver, 16 Mar. 2023
And boffins are constantly improving what bogus burgers taste like.
—The Economist, 12 Oct. 2019
Dictionary Entries Near boffin
Cite this Entry
“Boffin.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/boffin. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.
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