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
However, arguably the best amenity for aviation nerds is the view of the runway.
—
Bailey Berg, AFAR Media, 30 Apr. 2025
Sometimes, filmmaking can really be an excuse for nerds to research stuff.
—Sarah Shachat, IndieWire, 29 Apr. 2025
Think of it as the social network for nature nerds.
—Sean Greene, Los Angeles Times, 25 Apr. 2025
Luck is the scion of the football program, a lovable nerd who happened to be the best quarterback in football, aka the perfect Stanford athletics niche: smart and good.
—Chris Branch, New York Times, 1 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for nerd
Bailey Berg, AFAR Media, 30 Apr. 2025
Sometimes, filmmaking can really be an excuse for nerds to research stuff.
—Sarah Shachat, IndieWire, 29 Apr. 2025
Think of it as the social network for nature nerds.
—Sean Greene, Los Angeles Times, 25 Apr. 2025
Luck is the scion of the football program, a lovable nerd who happened to be the best quarterback in football, aka the perfect Stanford athletics niche: smart and good.
—Chris Branch, New York Times, 1 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for nerd
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nerd
Noun
-
Owner David Rubenstein needs to get rid of Elias (maybe Cal Ripken Jr. would agree to the job) and get baseball people instead of computer geeks to run the team.—
Reader Commentary,
Baltimore Sun,
22 May 2025
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Jon Cherry/Getty Images For years, crypto was viewed by many as a weird and fringe investment, hyped up by a bunch of math geeks and used widely by all kinds of unsavory characters, from drug dealers to hackers.—
Rafael Nam,
NPR,
19 May 2025
Noun
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The 20th-century German-Jewish political philosopher escaped the Nazi Holocaust, and won regard as one of the world’s greatest public intellectuals at a time when few women were appointed to university faculties.—
Kim Samuel,
Scientific American,
16 May 2025
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As Chu sees it, intellectuals have confused the state’s real obligation to be neutral—to not arrest or deport people for their political speech—with a critic’s imaginary obligation to pretend art is politically neutral.—
S. C. Cornell,
New Yorker,
2 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Nerd.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nerd. Accessed 3 Jun. 2025.
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