Nerd Definition

nʉrd
nerds
noun
nerds
A foolish, inept, or unattractive person.
American Heritage
A person regarded as socially dull, unsophisticated, awkward, etc., specif., as from being preoccupied with schoolwork, an intellectual hobby, etc.
Webster's New World

(slang, sometimes derogatory) A person who is intellectual but generally introverted.

Wiktionary
(informal, sometimes derogatory) One who has an intense, obsessive interest in something.
A computer nerd.
A comic-book nerd.
Wiktionary

Other Word Forms of Nerd

Noun

Singular:
nerd
Plural:
nerds

Origin of Nerd

  • The word, capitalized, appeared in 1950 in Dr. Seuss's If I Ran the Zoo as the name of an imaginary animal:

    From Wiktionary

  • Perhaps an alteration of nerts (“nuts", "crazy"); see references below.

    From Wiktionary

  • Various unlikely folk etymologies and less likely backronymic speculations also exist.

    From Wiktionary

  • Origin unknown

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

Find Similar Words

Find similar words to nerd using the buttons below.

Words Starting With

Words Ending With

Unscrambles

nerd