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
-
Superman and Lex Luthor have technically had a child together for decades in the comics, but as many a gay nerd has joked on the internet this year, Nicholas Hoult’s Lex finally seems like a Lex who would baby-trap Superman.—
James Factora,
Them.,
17 Oct. 2025
-
That bourbon, like all subsequent releases, was aged at Camp Nelson, a warehouse site located a few minutes from the distillery that is legendary (among whiskey nerds, at least) for the quality of the bourbon that comes from there.—
Jonah Flicker,
Robb Report,
15 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Scientists are advancing the use of muon scattering tomography to analyze nuclear fuel debris from the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi accident.—
Aman Tripathi,
Interesting Engineering,
15 Oct. 2025
-
Barry regularly meets with economists from major banks to analyze data and metrics related to consumer health and then translates those insights into action.—
Sheryl Estrada,
Fortune,
15 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
One of the most moving stories in the film is the portrait of a father and son bonding over their love of geek culture.—
Leo Barraclough,
Variety,
19 Oct. 2025
-
In the 1990s, the internet boom created overnight fortunes along with unforeseen challenges for some tech geeks and impresarios who founded wildly successful dot-coms.—
Christina Binkley,
Robb Report,
11 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
By seeing Earth spinning and orbiting, satellites and space telescopes have confirmed what astronomers have long deduced.—
Nilakshi Veerabathina,
The Conversation,
22 Sep. 2025
-
There’s one song to deduce each day.—
Kris Holt,
Forbes.com,
18 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Because of the crucial role the Southern Ocean plays in mitigating this catalyst for climate change, AWI researchers have been studying this marine environment.—
Maria Mocerino,
Interesting Engineering,
19 Oct. 2025
-
Rick is a guy who has always loved books and used to study creative writing.—
Willing Davidson,
New Yorker,
19 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Sign up for our Park Life newsletter and find out what’s new and interesting every week at Southern California’s theme parks.—
Brady MacDonald,
Oc Register,
16 Oct. 2025
-
The then 23-year-old told PEOPLE in November 2008 that the worst part of the whole scandal was when her mother found out.—
Emily Blackwood,
PEOPLE,
15 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
This is the web version of CEO Daily, a newsletter of must-read global insights from CEOs and industry leaders.—
Diane Brady,
Fortune,
20 Oct. 2025
-
To their credit, the Young Republicans organization issued a strong denouncement of the comments, although I was horrified by reading the online responses to it.—
Steven Greenhut,
Oc Register,
19 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Steen learned about his Hall of Fame invitation during training camp.—
Jeremy Rutherford,
New York Times,
16 Oct. 2025
-
Students will learn to wire avionics as well as to troubleshoot and repair wiring issues.—
Sydney Sasser,
Arkansas Online,
16 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Swot.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/swot. Accessed 22 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share