: a person preoccupied with arcane details or procedures in a specialized field
Synonyms
Examples of wonk in a Sentence
the policy wonks in the government
the candidate has an army of policy wonks ready to write for him a position paper on virtually any issue
Recent Examples on the Web
This strange blend of data and debauchery — equal parts Math Olympiad and Burning Man — was the dominant vibe at Manifest, which was held in a converted hotel and populated by a crowd of about 250 tech workers, bloggers, economists, students and assorted wonks.
—
Kevin Roose, New York Times, 8 Oct. 2023
There are data wonks like the Entertainment Strategy Guy and the Czech company FlixPatrol that factor in such rankings to determine whether certain shows registered with audiences.
—Ryan Faughnder, Los Angeles Times, 19 Sep. 2023
The bipartisan Common Core initiative was led by policy wonks who wanted to make American students more globally competitive, partly in response to George W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind legislation, which had created a patchwork of different standards across the states.
—Emma Green, The New Yorker, 1 Sep. 2023
That’s a view shared by a burgeoning clutch of influential American wonks, who argue that the United States’ mammoth contributions to Ukraine are undermining its ability to prepare Taiwan for a future Chinese invasion.
—Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 23 Aug. 2023
Message Extraction From the first announcement, the project drew in an army of nerds and puzzle wonks.
—Shi En Kim, Scientific American, 3 Aug. 2023
On July 13, a group of journalists, policy wonks, and political activists opened a new front in the war for American conservatism.
—Matthew Continetti, National Review, 22 July 2023
Despite this, the visit drew unprecedented interest—and not just from climate policy wonks but from policymakers and professionals in a range of fields.
—Justin Worland, Time, 20 July 2023
In May, in breakfast remarks before an audience of political staffers and policy wonks on Capitol Hill, Beatty and Carey described their efforts to meet and talk, in plain view, on the House floor during proceedings.
—Scott MacFarlane, CBS News, 1 Aug. 2023
See More
Kevin Roose, New York Times, 8 Oct. 2023
There are data wonks like the Entertainment Strategy Guy and the Czech company FlixPatrol that factor in such rankings to determine whether certain shows registered with audiences.
—Ryan Faughnder, Los Angeles Times, 19 Sep. 2023
The bipartisan Common Core initiative was led by policy wonks who wanted to make American students more globally competitive, partly in response to George W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind legislation, which had created a patchwork of different standards across the states.
—Emma Green, The New Yorker, 1 Sep. 2023
That’s a view shared by a burgeoning clutch of influential American wonks, who argue that the United States’ mammoth contributions to Ukraine are undermining its ability to prepare Taiwan for a future Chinese invasion.
—Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 23 Aug. 2023
Message Extraction From the first announcement, the project drew in an army of nerds and puzzle wonks.
—Shi En Kim, Scientific American, 3 Aug. 2023
On July 13, a group of journalists, policy wonks, and political activists opened a new front in the war for American conservatism.
—Matthew Continetti, National Review, 22 July 2023
Despite this, the visit drew unprecedented interest—and not just from climate policy wonks but from policymakers and professionals in a range of fields.
—Justin Worland, Time, 20 July 2023
In May, in breakfast remarks before an audience of political staffers and policy wonks on Capitol Hill, Beatty and Carey described their efforts to meet and talk, in plain view, on the House floor during proceedings.
—Scott MacFarlane, CBS News, 1 Aug. 2023
See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'wonk.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
origin unknown
First Known Use
1954, in the meaning defined above
Articles Related to wonk
Dictionary Entries Near wonk
Cite this Entry
“Wonk.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wonk. Accessed 8 Dec. 2023.
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