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
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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
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Here, Deadline speaks with the multi-hyphenate about her Kickstarter campaign, the challenges of creating a series and representation in the nerd space.—
Destiny Jackson,
Deadline,
3 Oct. 2025
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But hey, whiskey nerds are gonna whiskey nerd and whiskey sellers are gonna gouge.—
Jonah Flicker,
Robb Report,
28 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The study analyzed blood samples from 47 patients with severe ME/CFS and 61 healthy controls, revealing a unique pattern consistently present in patients with the condition.—
Neetika Walter,
Interesting Engineering,
9 Oct. 2025
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Behaviours are measured through 360-degree reviews and employee surveys, where data can be broken down by function to analyze the individual impact of leaders.—
Jessica Coacci,
Fortune,
9 Oct. 2025
Noun
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The program is designed to follow orders from its user, Julian, a tech geek with a god complex.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
7 Oct. 2025
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The air is getting chilly, the leaves are starting to turn, and Oscar geeks are analyzing the buzz out of Venice, Telluride, and Toronto like tea leaves at the bottom of a mug — that’s right, Oscar season is here.—
Joe Reid,
Vulture,
27 Sep. 2025
Verb
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There’s one song to deduce each day.—
Kris Holt,
Forbes.com,
18 Sep. 2025
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Someone will look back on 2025 and pick through the mountain of symphonies and movies and novels and museum exhibits that were being offered this fall and will deduce this was what America and Chicago were thinking in 2025.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
5 Sep. 2025
Verb
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It was originally intended to protect electricity ratepayers from having to shoulder the costs of data centers in their communities, but now simply authorizes the Public Utilities Commission to study whether the cost-shift is happening.—
Kate Wolffe,
Sacbee.com,
12 Oct. 2025
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Researchers behind the latest science studied 90 participants with major depressive disorder and found lower LDAEP measures (which means higher serotonin levels) predicted orgasmic dysfunction from eight weeks of treatment with escitalopram with 87% accuracy.—
Kristen Rogers,
CNN Money,
12 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Click on these links to find out how AbbVie holds leaders accountable, Cisco uses AI agents, DHL Express trains supervisors, Hilton adapts to different cultures, the world’s largest call center operator blends AI with emotional intelligence, and the Nordic approach builds engagement.—
Diane Brady,
Fortune,
9 Oct. 2025
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In the final episode of the sophomore season, which debuted on Disney+ Wednesday, audiences finally find out why Alex Russo (Selena Gomez) has been so committed to protecting Billie (Janice LeAnn Brown).—
Katie Campione,
Deadline,
9 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Children…who had previously not read for pleasure are standing in line at bookstores and libraries to get the next book in the series.—
JSTOR Daily,
JSTOR Daily,
12 Oct. 2025
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Faithful to tradition, the festival’s 800 volunteers were feted with a walk-around the concert hall to the sound of a brass band, before guests were invited to the stage to officially open the festival by reading a sentence in unison – a joyous cacophony that drew complicit laughter from the crowd.—
Lise Pedersen,
Variety,
12 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Lawson-Remer cited the connection between education and clinical practice, and the ability to keep working while learning, as the key factors in making progress in the larger goal of significantly growing the local mental health care workforce.—
Paul Sisson,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
10 Oct. 2025
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Pérez said medical workers who visited the station learned about her daughter’s condition and connected the family to a hospital charity care program.—
Melissa Sanchez,
ProPublica,
10 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Swot.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/swot. Accessed 13 Oct. 2025.
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