as in nerd
a person slavishly devoted to intellectual or academic pursuits
every time he begged off a night at the pub—saying he had to study—his mates teased him for being a swot
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of swot
The Economist, 13 June 2020
Greenblatt might want to have a chinwag with some of his colleagues in the history department and swot up the biography of someone like Wisconsin’s Robert La Follette, a progressive populist politician perhaps more to his liking.
—Alex Beam, BostonGlobe.com, 2 May 2018
Ruby Tandoh, New Yorker, 25 Aug. 2025
The Oxbridge and Ivy League colleges traditionally had disparaging terms for students who worked too hard and devoted themselves too diligently to learning: swot in England, grind in the United States.
—John McIntyre, The Christian Science Monitor, 31 July 2023
So, swot up, then delegate.
—Barnaby Lashbrooke, Forbes, 4 May 2021
Noun
Yamada Jun, the IT expert, became the CEO and travelled to Germany to swot up on renewables.
—The Economist, 13 June 2020
Greenblatt might want to have a chinwag with some of his colleagues in the history department and swot up the biography of someone like Wisconsin’s Robert La Follette, a progressive populist politician perhaps more to his liking.
—Alex Beam, BostonGlobe.com, 2 May 2018
Verb
Nobody talked about the furtive ambition of the swots.
—Ruby Tandoh, New Yorker, 25 Aug. 2025
The Oxbridge and Ivy League colleges traditionally had disparaging terms for students who worked too hard and devoted themselves too diligently to learning: swot in England, grind in the United States.
—John McIntyre, The Christian Science Monitor, 31 July 2023
So, swot up, then delegate.
—Barnaby Lashbrooke, Forbes, 4 May 2021
Recent Examples of Synonyms for swot
Noun
-
By comparison, his romantic rival Archie (Devon Bostick) is a weirdo, but a more believable one, and Bostick’s banter with Ferreira has a specific kind of romantic chemistry common to hyperintelligent, socially awkward nerds.—
Katie Rife,
IndieWire,
4 Sep. 2025
-
My brother was a poet, classics scholar, and charismatic leader of nerds who blossomed into a handsome surfer and then nosedived into schizophrenia and a life of unfiltered Camel cigarettes, caffeine, and antipsychotics.—
Kim Gordon,
Rolling Stone,
3 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
This is the first year the county can analyze and present in-depth data on the program, according to a presentation by the DHHS.—
Everett Eaton,
jsonline.com,
3 Sep. 2025
-
Visual arts experts will analyze them to determine if they are related to paintings stolen during World War II, police said.—
Michelle Del Rey,
USA Today,
3 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
And make no mistake — Taylor is the kind of pop geek who knows all these stories cold, so this is primed to be the biggest pop wedding of all.—
Rob Sheffield,
Rolling Stone,
27 Aug. 2025
-
Both men are charismatic movie stars who happen to share a secret film-geek disposition.—
Brent Lang,
Variety,
20 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
There’s one song to deduce each day.—
Kris Holt,
Forbes.com,
3 Sep. 2025
-
As Australians, much like everyone else, have 1-4% Neanderthal DNA in their genes, researchers logically deduced that hominins couldn’t have arrived any time before that, which would call into question a fundamental belief concerning human migration.—
Maria Mocerino,
Interesting Engineering,
30 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
The 6-foot-6 centre who studies Tage Thompson YouTube videos in his spare time could be a dominant junior hockey player this season.—
Murat Ates,
New York Times,
8 Sep. 2025
-
For Missouri, 2022 was such a deadly year — 43 children under the age of 18 died from the illicit drug — that former DSS director Robert Knodell created the Fentanyl Case Review Subcommittee, which was a panel of experts who studied those cases.—
Laura Bauer,
Kansas City Star,
7 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Tony didn’t find out about their daughter until after Ziva’s death, then father and daughter spent several years together before Ziva revealed the truth.—
Toni Fitzgerald,
Forbes.com,
4 Sep. 2025
-
Paul finds out and blows his top.—
Stephanie Zacharek,
Time,
4 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
The court received a total of 28 victim impact statements, of which seven were read publicly at last month's hearings.—
Alasdair Pal,
USA Today,
8 Sep. 2025
-
Keep reading for all the sexiest styles from the 2025 VMAs.—
Catherine Santino,
PEOPLE,
8 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
The Tombstone star has joined the cast of the Yellowstone spinoff series The Madison, Entertainment Weekly has learned.—
Wesley Stenzel,
Entertainment Weekly,
5 Sep. 2025
-
Having learned to think of themselves as an identity group like any other, such Americans have begun to flex their muscles.—
Graham Hillard,
The Washington Examiner,
5 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Swot.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/swot. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share