nerd

Meaning

1. (slang) A person who is intellectual but generally introverted.
2. (informal) One who has an intense, obsessive interest in something.
3. (informal) A member of a subculture revolving around intellectualism, technology, video games, fantasy and science fiction, comic books and assorted media.
4. (informal) One who is socially inept or unattractive, but often brainy; a social outcast.

Synonyms

geek

swot

dweeb

wonk

grind

dork

trainspotter

enthusiast

klutz

weakling

block-head

nebish

uncool man

tekki

ass

🍑

spaz

asshole

bookworm

chump

dim-wit

dink

fool

git

Pronounced as (IPA)

/nɜːd/

Etymology

Unknown. Attested since 1951 as US student slang.
* Perhaps an alteration of nerts (“nuts", "crazy”); see references below.
* The word, capitalized, appeared in 1950 in Dr. Seuss’s If I Ran the Zoo as the name of an imaginary animal:
*: And then, just to show them, I’ll sail to Katroo / And bring back an It-Kutch, a Preep and a Proo, / A Nerkle, a Nerd and a Seersucker too!
* Possibly a rebracketing of inert as a nert, as in he's inert = he's a nerd, in reference to one's lack of competence or athletic ability.
* Various unlikely folk etymologies and less likely backronymic speculations also exist.