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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of nerd
All the hallmarks of his fusions are present—some gospel here, some guitars there, enough rap samples from across regions to make any blog nerd proud—but his pet sound this cycle is harsh electronic music.
—
Dylan Green, Pitchfork, 29 May 2026
SpaceX has been blowing up Starship rockets left and right, and the space nerds seem to be cheering them on.
—Eric Berger, ArsTechnica, 29 May 2026
Strategy consulting definitely has room for nerds.
—Christian Stadler, Forbes.com, 26 May 2026
The nerds have moved out of the garage and into their techno feudalist era.
—Michael Schneider, Variety, 26 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for nerd
Dylan Green, Pitchfork, 29 May 2026
SpaceX has been blowing up Starship rockets left and right, and the space nerds seem to be cheering them on.
—Eric Berger, ArsTechnica, 29 May 2026
Strategy consulting definitely has room for nerds.
—Christian Stadler, Forbes.com, 26 May 2026
The nerds have moved out of the garage and into their techno feudalist era.
—Michael Schneider, Variety, 26 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for nerd
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nerd
Noun
-
But in this literary theatre geek’s opinion—and, evidently, the voting public’s—there’s always room for more crossover acts.—
Brittany Allen,
Literary Hub,
10 June 2026
-
Although their Big Bang Theory characters were passionate about science, physics and Star Trek, their geek gang found romance, too.—
Christopher Rudolph,
PEOPLE,
6 June 2026
Noun
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For someone who was famous for three weeks for murdering intellectuals, national treasures, and Olympians, there’s a hell of a lot of love out there for me.—
Jason P. Frank,
Vulture,
4 Dec. 2025
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Were there other public intellectuals working with this same sense of contagious expertise?—
Helen Shaw,
New Yorker,
30 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Nerd.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nerd. Accessed 18 Jun. 2026.
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