twerp

Meaning

1. (colloquial) A fool, a twit.
2. (colloquial) A small or puny person; one regarded as insignificant, contemptible.
3. (colloquial) A person who can be bullied playfully, or easily teased. Sometimes used as a pet-name (often for a younger sibling).

Synonyms

twirp

twit

rude fellow

chump

dolt

dork

goon

lame

muggins

nincompoop

booby

shmo

square

thick

tyke

whippersnapper

dumbass

tike

schmo

boor

bozo

Pronounced as (IPA)

/twɝp/

Etymology

Of uncertain origin; originally British slang of the 1910s. In a letter, dated 6 October 1944, J. R. R. Tolkien mentions a contemporary of his at Oxford University T.W. Earp, calling him "the original twerp"; but no corroborating evidence for this etymology has come to light. Other suggestions include: a clipping of Antwerp (“type of racing pigeon that flew between Antwerp and London”); the onomatopoeic twirp (“imitation of the sound of a bird”); a dialectal variant of dwarf (compare Middle English dwerf); Welsh twp (“a fool”).