nerd

See also: Nerd and NERD

English

Alternative forms

  • knurd (folk etymology, very rare)
  • nurd (very rare)

Etymology

Unknown. Attested since 1951 as US student slang.

  • Perhaps an alteration of nerts (“nuts", "crazy”); see references below.
  • The word, capitalized, appeared in 1950 in Dr. Seuss’s If I Ran the Zoo as the name of an imaginary animal:
    And then, just to show them, I’ll sail to Katroo / And bring back an It-Kutch, a Preep and a Proo, / A Nerkle, a Nerd and a Seersucker too!
  • Various unlikely folk etymologies and less likely backronymic speculations also exist.

Pronunciation

Noun

nerd (plural nerds)

  1. (slang, sometimes derogatory) A person who is intellectual but generally introverted
    • 1953 Advertisement for "Businessman's Lunch", a play by Micheal Quinn, in Patricia Brown, Gloria Mundi
      They particularly enjoy making fun of one of their fellows who is not present, whom they consider a hopeless nerd – until, that is, they learn he is engaged to marry the boss's daughter.
    • 2002, Sam Williams, Free as in Freedom:
      "We were all geeks and nerds, but he was unusually poorly adjusted," recalls Chess, now a mathematics professor at Hunter College.
    • 2009 February 28, “Orszag to present budget blueprint”, in WBBH:
      "Yes, I am super nerd, and the whole room cracked up," Said Orszag.
  2. (informal, sometimes derogatory) One who has an intense, obsessive interest in something.
    Synonyms: geek, otaku
    a computer nerd
    a comic-book nerd
  3. (slang, always derogatory) An unattractive, socially awkward, annoying, undesirable, and/or boring, person; a dork.
    Synonyms: dag (Australian), doofus, dork, dweeb, geek, goober, loser, propeller head, twerp
    Only a nerd would wear yellow and blue stripes with green pants.
    Nerds seem to have fun with each other, but in a way that causes others to laugh at them.
    Why are you hanging out with that nerd?
  4. (post-1980s) A member of a subculture revolving around video games, fantasy and science fiction, comic books and assorted media.

Synonyms

  • See also Thesaurus:dork

Derived terms

Translations

References

Further reading

Anagrams

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English nerd.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /nøːrt/
  • Audio(file)

Noun

nerd m (plural nerds, diminutive nerdje n)

  1. nerd

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

Borrowed from English nerd.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /nærd/, /nøːɖ/
  • Rhymes: -ærd, -øːɖ

Noun

nerd m (definite singular nerden, indefinite plural nerder, definite plural nerdene)

  1. a nerd

References

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

Borrowed from English nerd.

Noun

nerd m (definite singular nerden, indefinite plural nerdar, definite plural nerdane)

  1. a nerd

References

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from English nerd.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈnɛʁd͡ʒ/, /ˈnɛʁ.d͡ʒi/

Noun

nerd m, f (plural nerds)

  1. nerd (intellectual, introverted and quirky person)
    Synonyms: CDF, totó

Adjective

nerd (invariable, comparable)

  1. nerdy (who is a nerd)

Usage notes

Until recently, this word was somewhat pejorative. Nowadays it is used both negatively and positively.

Spanish

Noun

nerd m, f (plural nerds)

  1. nerd
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