as in intellectual
much given to learning and thinking
a fringe party of nerdy political activists who have no chance of getting elected
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Recent Examples of nerdy
The career mode now gets real-world sponsors; there are new, super-nerdy widgets for the HUD that detail the innerworkings of the powertrain and ECU; track art, foliage, and environmental lighting have seen a lift; and AI has been further balanced, just to name a few other touch-ups.
—
Adam Ismail, The Drive, 25 Mar. 2026
Brendon's character was beloved for his ability to transform insecurity, irony, and vulnerability into a new model of nerdy masculinity.
—Marzia Nicolini, Vanity Fair, 21 Mar. 2026
Sporting a tan fedora and stuffing his hands in his pockets, Weir has a half smile that’s always primed for a nerdy joke.
—Clare Mulroy, USA Today, 20 Mar. 2026
Flatter, though, were sketches about a pair of Best Buy workers, and one where Styles played a drive-thru worker at a White Castle, but that’s because Jane Wickline and Veronika Slowikowska stole the skit as a pair of nerdy girls trying to ask him out to the school dance.
—Maira Garcia, Los Angeles Times, 15 Mar. 2026
Among the latter’s clique is secretly nerdy blonde Lizzie (Lulu Wilson), who used to hang out with Jack and Montgomery, before proving pretty and canny enough to switch allegiances.
—Guy Lodge, Variety, 14 Mar. 2026
And in some places the celebrations of Pi Day are a little nerdy.
—Rin Velasco, The Patriot Ledger, 13 Mar. 2026
The deceptively low-key humor of Demetri Martin was once labeled nerdy or alternative, given his smart one-liners, on-stage drawings and overall subtly.
—John Wenzel, Denver Post, 5 Mar. 2026
The question feels like the lead up to a nerdy joke.
—Literary Hub, 4 Mar. 2026
Adam Ismail, The Drive, 25 Mar. 2026
Brendon's character was beloved for his ability to transform insecurity, irony, and vulnerability into a new model of nerdy masculinity.
—Marzia Nicolini, Vanity Fair, 21 Mar. 2026
Sporting a tan fedora and stuffing his hands in his pockets, Weir has a half smile that’s always primed for a nerdy joke.
—Clare Mulroy, USA Today, 20 Mar. 2026
Flatter, though, were sketches about a pair of Best Buy workers, and one where Styles played a drive-thru worker at a White Castle, but that’s because Jane Wickline and Veronika Slowikowska stole the skit as a pair of nerdy girls trying to ask him out to the school dance.
—Maira Garcia, Los Angeles Times, 15 Mar. 2026
Among the latter’s clique is secretly nerdy blonde Lizzie (Lulu Wilson), who used to hang out with Jack and Montgomery, before proving pretty and canny enough to switch allegiances.
—Guy Lodge, Variety, 14 Mar. 2026
And in some places the celebrations of Pi Day are a little nerdy.
—Rin Velasco, The Patriot Ledger, 13 Mar. 2026
The deceptively low-key humor of Demetri Martin was once labeled nerdy or alternative, given his smart one-liners, on-stage drawings and overall subtly.
—John Wenzel, Denver Post, 5 Mar. 2026
The question feels like the lead up to a nerdy joke.
—Literary Hub, 4 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nerdy
Adjective
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Amazon built its hiring process around its core Leadership Principles, with interviewers trained to probe for red flags, and JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon has been outspoken about valuing street smarts and intellectual curiosity over pedigree alone.—
Sydney Lake,
Fortune,
26 Mar. 2026
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Her daughter, Gabs Gonzalez, has an intellectual and developmental disability, or IDD.—
Sarah Horbacewicz,
CBS News,
26 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Rather than lean into the chaos the challenge seemed to demand, Jane went cerebral.—
H. Alan Scott,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 Mar. 2026
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And the hour-long results that premiere on the platform Friday are a mix of the cerebral and silly that audiences have come to expect from the Problemista filmmaker and former Saturday Night Live writer.—
Mikey O'Connell,
HollywoodReporter,
27 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Only a geeky, witty male pal (Jon Cryer) sees her worth, until one day, quite remarkably, rich-kid McCarthy takes an interest.—
Duane Byrge,
HollywoodReporter,
31 Mar. 2026
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That is unsurprising, because David Byrne’s infinitely curious collection of geeky grey matter is quite unlike that of most unapproachable rock stars.—
Chris Jones,
Chicago Tribune,
26 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Turner could not have known that his manifesto would define scholarly and popular understandings of American and western history for the next one hundred years.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
1 Apr. 2026
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To be clear, there is little credible scholarly evidence that EdTech, in general, improves learning outcomes, and no conclusive evidence that generative AI improves learning outcomes over traditional human teaching.—
Dr. Timothy Scott,
Hartford Courant,
31 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Nerdy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nerdy. Accessed 3 Apr. 2026.
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