as in nerd
a person slavishly devoted to intellectual or academic pursuits
the candidate has an army of policy wonks ready to write for him a position paper on virtually any issue
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Recent Examples of wonk
Some industry insiders and policy wonks will say the public needs a few economics lessons.
—
Jonathan Lansner, Oc Register, 24 Oct. 2025
But there’s no way, the GTW accounting wonks insist, that the Buffs’ bean-counters would ever let CU give up a home game, and a home gate, for a jaunt across the pond.
—Sean Keeler, Denver Post, 11 Oct. 2025
Don’t look now, but the wonks have come out with a way to measure how well AI entities do at forming relationships with people.
—John Werner, Forbes.com, 10 Sep. 2025
Another, more recent precedent was the National Security Commission of Artificial Intelligence, formed in 2018 to study how American government policy wonks should react to the rising prevalence of AI.
—IEEE Spectrum, 25 Mar. 2022
See All Example Sentences for wonk
Jonathan Lansner, Oc Register, 24 Oct. 2025
But there’s no way, the GTW accounting wonks insist, that the Buffs’ bean-counters would ever let CU give up a home game, and a home gate, for a jaunt across the pond.
—Sean Keeler, Denver Post, 11 Oct. 2025
Don’t look now, but the wonks have come out with a way to measure how well AI entities do at forming relationships with people.
—John Werner, Forbes.com, 10 Sep. 2025
Another, more recent precedent was the National Security Commission of Artificial Intelligence, formed in 2018 to study how American government policy wonks should react to the rising prevalence of AI.
—IEEE Spectrum, 25 Mar. 2022
See All Example Sentences for wonk
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wonk
Noun
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Many of the most popular sports pundits cast off analytics as superfluous nerd drivel.—
Brady Brickner-Wood,
New Yorker,
28 Jan. 2026
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The instruction book also features a bunch of cool facts and history about the SLS — a wonderful touch for a NASA nerd like me.—
Ian Stokes,
Space.com,
28 Jan. 2026
Noun
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For airline geeks and loyal fans of the Emirates brand, the livery was probably the highlight announcement coming from Dubai this week.—
Paula Conway,
Forbes.com,
27 Jan. 2026
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Featuring even more eye-popping visuals than its predecessor, Across the Spider-Verse is an animation geek's dream.—
James Mercadante,
Entertainment Weekly,
20 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Wonk.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wonk. Accessed 1 Feb. 2026.
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