1
as in geek
a person slavishly devoted to intellectual or academic pursuits
was such a nerd in college that she spent Saturday nights at the library
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in intellectual
a person with strong intellectual interests
an unlikely romance between a nerd and a campus beauty queen
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in cerebral
much given to learning and thinking
a fringe party of nerdy political activists who have no chance of getting elected
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of nerd
Matthew Korfhage, Wired News, 1 Apr. 2025
Fair to say my ‘history nerd radar’ is tingling.
—Max Goldbart, Deadline, 14 Mar. 2025
Poli-sci nerds will tell you that actual power lies at the point where will and capacity are synced up.
—Philip Elliott, TIME, 14 Mar. 2025
Carrie has a ridiculously expensive but surprisingly useful MFA in directing from Columbia University and will be forever proud of her early days as a theater nerd.
—Dominic Patten, Deadline, 13 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for nerd
Noun
Hario Skerton Pro for $50: The Hario Skerton was the gateway hand grinder for many a coffee nerd, but has since given ground to newer entrants.
—Matthew Korfhage, Wired News, 1 Apr. 2025
Fair to say my ‘history nerd radar’ is tingling.
—Max Goldbart, Deadline, 14 Mar. 2025
Poli-sci nerds will tell you that actual power lies at the point where will and capacity are synced up.
—Philip Elliott, TIME, 14 Mar. 2025
Carrie has a ridiculously expensive but surprisingly useful MFA in directing from Columbia University and will be forever proud of her early days as a theater nerd.
—Dominic Patten, Deadline, 13 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for nerd
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nerd
Noun
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Tapping into the geek chic aesthetic, the star completed the look with a pair of black trousers held up by red, white and blue suspenders supported by her shoulders.—
Starr Bowenbank,
People.com,
8 Apr. 2025
-
Flamboyant theater geek Ezra (Matthew Finlan) makes his shrieks sound especially dramatic.—
Peter Debruge,
Variety,
2 Apr. 2025
Noun
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And back in 2010, a MoMA retrospective featured a catalogue in which Wiseman’s work was praised by artists and intellectuals outside the documentary realm.—
Jordan Mintzer,
HollywoodReporter,
24 Apr. 2025
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Iranian artists and intellectuals tend to rely on subtlety, embedding meaning within layers of metaphor and covert language: a necessity in a place where direct expression often comes at great risk.—
Rebecca Ruth Gould,
JSTOR Daily,
9 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Our cerebral circuitry changes constantly—every day, new links are made amongst the 86 billion individual neurons in our heads, and old connections are allowed to fall away.—
Laura Baisas,
Popular Science,
17 Apr. 2025
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Challenging, cerebral, but without taking itself too seriously?—
Liam Hess,
Vogue,
14 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Nerd.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nerd. Accessed 29 Apr. 2025.
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