wonk
a student who spends much time studying and has little or no social life; grind.
a stupid, boring, or unattractive person.
a person who studies a subject or issue in an excessively assiduous and thorough manner: They’re searching for a policy wonk to lead the economic institute’s think tank.
Origin of wonk
1Other words from wonk
- wonk·ish, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use wonk in a sentence
Who are their prominent policy wonks regularly presenting anti-poverty proposals this concentrated, innovative and wide-ranging?
Paul Ryan’s New Plan Is a Good One, Especially for Black People | John McWhorter | July 30, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThis is a national campaign, with national conservative policy wonks writing the bills and local organizations promoting them.
How Anti-Gay Will Mississippi’s ‘New’ Religious Freedom Bill Be? | Jay Michaelson | March 11, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTI also have the exact same problem as the pastor with Liberal wonks - they have no grasp at all of logical consequences.
My only political axe to grind is that Liberal wonks just never design anything for reality.
I think it's fair to say that most economists and wonks think that at some level, government borrowing becomes a problem.
Lap-dogs and cage-birds were kept as pets; ‘wonks,’ the huang kou, or ‘yellow dog,’ were guards of houses and street scavengers.
Myths and Legends of China | E. T. C. WernerBesides the priests, the pariah dogs, or "wonks," watched our meal with intense interest.
Peking Dust | Ellen N. La MotteThey stood by in a silent circle, monks and wonks, and our gay tiffin proceeded undisturbed except by the pattering rain.
Peking Dust | Ellen N. La Motte
British Dictionary definitions for wonk
/ (wɒŋk) /
informal a person who is obsessively interested in a specified subject: a foreign policy wonk
Origin of wonk
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Browse