1
as in geek
a person slavishly devoted to intellectual or academic pursuits
was such a nerd in college that she spent Saturday nights at the library
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in intellectual
a person with strong intellectual interests
an unlikely romance between a nerd and a campus beauty queen
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of nerd
Even many of his supporters expected Lurie, with his starched shirts and monotone voice, to approach the new job as more of a public policy nerd than a cheerleader-in-chief.
—
Hannah Wiley, Los Angeles Times, 14 Apr. 2025
He’s also been transformed into a stereotypical, lightsaber-brandishing nerd with a wardrobe of wacky T-shirts.
—Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 24 Apr. 2025
The guys who were the heads of the club were track kids; fit, secret nerds.
—Rob Wieland, Forbes.com, 22 Apr. 2025
Last Friday afternoon, in the lobby of a Marriott in downtown Stamford, Conn., attendees of the 47th American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, the annual confab of word nerds hosted by The Times’s puzzle editor, Will Shortz, joyously convened.
—Melissa Kirsch, New York Times, 12 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for nerd
Hannah Wiley, Los Angeles Times, 14 Apr. 2025
He’s also been transformed into a stereotypical, lightsaber-brandishing nerd with a wardrobe of wacky T-shirts.
—Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 24 Apr. 2025
The guys who were the heads of the club were track kids; fit, secret nerds.
—Rob Wieland, Forbes.com, 22 Apr. 2025
Last Friday afternoon, in the lobby of a Marriott in downtown Stamford, Conn., attendees of the 47th American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, the annual confab of word nerds hosted by The Times’s puzzle editor, Will Shortz, joyously convened.
—Melissa Kirsch, New York Times, 12 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for nerd
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nerd
Noun
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There’s a noticeable pride Morot takes in touring me around his geek’s paradise: a two-level office crammed with shelves of scowling latex heads, furry creatures and a pair of giant gators overlooking it all.—
Joshua Rothkopf,
Los Angeles Times,
14 May 2025
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There were kind of two tracks at the time: There was Das Keyboard, aimed toward the more professional programmers and the geeks, and then the gaming keyboards.—
Zackery Cuevas,
PC Magazine,
10 May 2025
Noun
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The 20th-century German-Jewish political philosopher escaped the Nazi Holocaust, and won regard as one of the world’s greatest public intellectuals at a time when few women were appointed to university faculties.—
Kim Samuel,
Scientific American,
16 May 2025
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As Chu sees it, intellectuals have confused the state’s real obligation to be neutral—to not arrest or deport people for their political speech—with a critic’s imaginary obligation to pretend art is politically neutral.—
S. C. Cornell,
New Yorker,
2 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Nerd.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nerd. Accessed 24 May. 2025.
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