geek

noun \ ˈgēk \

Updated on: 10 Apr 2018

Definition of geek

1 : a person often of an intellectual bent who is disliked

2 : an enthusiast or expert especially in a technological field or activity

computer geek

3 : a carnival performer often billed as a wild man whose act usually includes biting the head off a live chicken or snake

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geekdom

play \ˈgēk-dəm\ noun

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geekiness

noun

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geeky

play \ˈgē-kē\ adjective

See geek defined for English-language learners

Examples of geek in a Sentence

He was a real geek in high school.
was quickly stereotyped as another computer geek

Recent Examples of geek from the Web

The Iron Giant is reduced to a meaningless action figure—which runs contrary to the series' central theme of tapping into the true intent of geek culture's biggest creators.

— sam machkovech, Ars Technica, "Ready Player One’s film adaptation isn’t even good enough as a kids movie," 29 Mar. 2018
The cultural elevation of geeks and nerds hasn’t quite reached these history-loving dweebs.

— mark peters, BostonGlobe.com, "Forget about reenactors," 16 Mar. 2018
The sneaker launch falls on March 14, which also happens to be a math geeks favorite day of the year, Pi Day—hence, the first colorway title.

— jarrel harris, SI.com, "Stephen Curry and Under Armour Unveil Curry 5 'Pi Day'," 14 Mar. 2018
The crowd on the recent day at Great South Bay Brewery in Bay Shore, N.Y., was a mix of fit beer geeks and yogis staring contemplatively into half-full pints of craft brews.

— jen murphy, WSJ, "Namaste, IPA: Stressed Out in Yoga Class? Have a Beer," 13 Mar. 2018
David is the type of urbane teenager so commonplace in suburban high schools, a film and journalism geek, a stringer for the local Sun Sentinel who also aspires to be an aerospace engineer.

— lisa miller, Daily Intelligencer, "On the Ground With the Parkland Teens as They Plot Their Revolution," 2 Mar. 2018
So, does working on a matchmaking algorithm and website make even a computer geek cool?

— karen weintraub, Washington Post, "For just one day, love is in the air amid the gigabytes," 13 Feb. 2018
Democratic Attorney General Xavier Becerra would be unknown to anyone but political geeks.

— joe garofoli, San Francisco Chronicle, "Trump may be loathed in California, but he continues to reshape its politics," 20 Jan. 2018
Granted, the nerd quotient is strong in this one, and the level of minutia will surely play better with comic-book geeks familiar with the House of El (whose most famous son, Kal-El, was shipped to Earth) or the city of Kandor.

— brian lowry, CNN, "'Krypton' takes off as Superman-themed Syfy prequel," 20 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'geek.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Of nerds, geeks, and dorks

Dork, when used to refer to a socially awkward or inept person, is a relatively recent word: our records indicate that it first appeared in writing in the 1960s. Two of its synonyms in this sense are likewise of fairly recent vintage. Nerd (typically used of a studious species of dork) dates from the 1950s; it was coined by Dr. Seuss in his 1950 book If I Ran the Zoo, although not in the sense that we use today. Geek became synonymous with nerd in the 1950s. Prior to this, the word referred to, among other things, a carnival performer who would bite the head off a live chicken, or other small animal, as part of an act.

Origin and Etymology of geek

probably from English dialect geek, geck fool, from Low German geck, from Middle Low German

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1912

See Words from the same year

geek Synonyms

GEEK Defined for English Language Learners

geek

noun

Definition of geek for English Language Learners

: a person who is socially awkward and unpopular : a usually intelligent person who does not fit in with other people
: a person who is very interested in and knows a lot about a particular field or activity