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
As any die-hard fan of Reagan-era cinema will tell you, the 1983 hit revolved around a Seattle computer nerd named David Lightman, played by Matthew Broderick as dorky but in a sorta cute, pre-Ferris Bueller way.
—
David Fear, Rolling Stone, 2 Mar. 2026
Tutoring the Cool Kid After tutoring the coolest kid in school, BJ (Storrie), high school nerd Dirkus (Marshall) gets an apology and — even better — an invite to sit at the cool kids’ table at lunch.
—Rima Parikh, Vulture, 1 Mar. 2026
An array of charts buried in the fine print of the state budget, unknown to all but a few fiscal nerds, details what California has collected in revenues and spent over the last half-century.
—Dan Walters, Mercury News, 17 Feb. 2026
An array of charts buried in the fine print of the state budget, unknown to all but a few fiscal nerds, details what California has collected in revenues and spent over the last half-century.
—Dan Walters, Oc Register, 16 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for nerd
David Fear, Rolling Stone, 2 Mar. 2026
Tutoring the Cool Kid After tutoring the coolest kid in school, BJ (Storrie), high school nerd Dirkus (Marshall) gets an apology and — even better — an invite to sit at the cool kids’ table at lunch.
—Rima Parikh, Vulture, 1 Mar. 2026
An array of charts buried in the fine print of the state budget, unknown to all but a few fiscal nerds, details what California has collected in revenues and spent over the last half-century.
—Dan Walters, Mercury News, 17 Feb. 2026
An array of charts buried in the fine print of the state budget, unknown to all but a few fiscal nerds, details what California has collected in revenues and spent over the last half-century.
—Dan Walters, Oc Register, 16 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for nerd
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nerd
Noun
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Part sports hangout, part brewpub, The Ram is the sort of wide-net concept that draws families, high school football fans and — back when craft IPAs were cool — even beer geeks.—
Michael Deeds,
Idaho Statesman,
4 Mar. 2026
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The day-long geek fest features various activities and exhibitors, including cosplay contests for different age brackets and San Antonio filmmakers sharing their works.—
René Guzman,
San Antonio Express-News,
4 Mar. 2026
Noun
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In the years following Deng Xiaoping’s turn toward a capitalist economy, some Chinese intellectuals felt a kind of spiritual malaise; Deng’s reforms had failed to provide moral direction for a vast and proud former empire.—
Chang Che,
New Yorker,
8 Mar. 2026
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More to Explore In this environment, some activists and intellectuals adopted bikes as part of a resistance to car-centric capitalist modernism.—
Livia Gershon,
JSTOR Daily,
5 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Nerd.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nerd. Accessed 14 Mar. 2026.
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