nerd

[ nurd ]
See synonyms for nerd on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a single-minded person obsessed with a hobby or pursuit or with a particular topic: My 13-year-old son is a computer nerd. I joined a book club and discovered another Jane Austen nerd.

  2. a person considered to be socially awkward, boring, unstylish, etc.

verb (used without object)
  1. to spend inordinate amounts of time, attention, energy, enthusiasm, etc., on an activity or topic of special interest to oneself; geek: I enjoy samurai movies, nerding about samurai movies, and the occasional slice of cake.Don't cross the street while you're nerding on your phone—you're likely to get hit!

Verb Phrases
  1. nerd out, to engage with excessive enthusiasm in a hobby or in discussion about a topic of special interest to oneself: Back in the day, I nerded out hardcore over baseball cards.We sat there for half an hour while she nerded out on the metaphysical poets.

  2. nerd up, to alter or be altered in a way that shows excessive enthusiasm for a special interest: He appears in that film nerded up as a philosophy genius.I'm going to nerd up my office with these five Charlie Chaplin posters.Wow, this simple conversation about cheese sure nerded up fast!

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Idioms about nerd

  1. nerd it up, to indulge oneself without restraint in a hobby, game, etc., in which one has an obsessive interest: Looking forward to nerding it up with everybody on Comic Trading Day at the store!

Origin of nerd

1
An Americanism first recorded in 1950–55; obscurely derived expressive formation
  • Rarely nurd .

word story For nerd

See geek.

Words Nearby nerd

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use nerd in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for nerd

nerd

nurd

/ (nɜːd) /


nounslang
  1. a boring or unpopular person, esp one obsessed with something specified: a computer nerd

  2. a stupid and feeble person

Derived forms of nerd

  • nerdish or nurdish, adjective
  • nerdy or nurdy, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012