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
John McIntyre, The Christian Science Monitor, 31 July 2023
So, swot up, then delegate.
—Barnaby Lashbrooke, Forbes, 4 May 2021
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
Noun
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
Verb
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for swot
Noun
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At a time when nerds were getting their revenge, most of them wanted to be Chris Knight.—
Brian Tallerico,
Vulture,
3 Apr. 2025
-
North Carolina failed to dazzle the recruiting/portal nerds.—
Bill Speros,
Boston Herald,
2 Apr. 2025
Verb
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His knack for reading teammates’ energy and needs is just as sound as his ability to analyze an opponent’s game plan during live action.—
James Jackson,
New York Times,
28 Mar. 2025
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In the new study, researchers analyzed subsidiary burials, or the remains of people that were buried near or around a central burial.—
Irene Wright,
Miami Herald,
28 Mar. 2025
Noun
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While most people just want to start shooting, the geeks also want to dig into the minutia and spend hours debating the merits of one camera versus the other.—
Jakob Schiller,
Outside Online,
1 Apr. 2025
-
Redford heads a team of eccentric misfits that includes a former CIA Agent (Sidney Poitier), a conspiracy theorist (Dan Aykroyd), an awkward geek (River Phoenix), and a blind man (David Strathairn) who get in over their heads when tasked with finding a device capable of breaking any code.—
Keith Phipps,
Vulture,
19 Mar. 2025
Verb
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My wife, a special education teacher, once led a lesson where her students—children with severe intellectual disabilities—analyzed historical defense spending and deduced that budgets rose before major wars.—
Scott White,
Forbes.com,
28 Mar. 2025
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The redactions in the documents made public Tuesday are so extensive that little can be deduced about Prince Harry’s immigration records themselves, or even the volume of records withheld.—
Rebekah Riess,
CNN,
18 Mar. 2025
Verb
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The sighting left the researchers with more questions than answers… but that’s the beauty of studying the ocean.—
Melissa Cristina Márquez,
Forbes.com,
1 Apr. 2025
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The aspiring doctor, who hopes to study anesthesiology, launched her Miss Teen duties the morning after the pageant by being interviewed for a KUSI-TV news show with the new Miss Teen Poway Scarlette Mullenger.—
Julie Gallant,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
1 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Later, Ju-yeon finds out that Park Jae-yeong was not a fellow victim of the attack, but was actually in on the whole thing.—
Kayti Burt,
Time,
4 Apr. 2025
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The problem will be finding out which is able to do a deal with De Laurentiis.—
Joshua Kloke,
New York Times,
4 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Throughout the night, Booker read letters from constituents worried about losing access to affordable health care, emphasizing that these concerns were not abstract but deeply personal for millions of people.—
Nik Popli,
Time,
2 Apr. 2025
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The New Jersey Democrat at times read letters from constituents affected by actions by the administrations in its opening months.—
Al Weaver,
The Hill,
1 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Both families later learned the couple had left Abilene’s bar on Philadelphia’s bustling South Street shortly before midnight.—
Faith Karimi,
CNN Money,
6 Apr. 2025
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Will this administration ever learn? Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.—
The Editorial Board,
Chicago Tribune,
6 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Swot.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/swot. Accessed 13 Apr. 2025.
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