boffin

American  

[bof-in] / ˈbɒf ɪn /

noun

British Slang.

1. a scientist or technical expert.

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boffin British  

/ ˈbɒfɪn /

noun

1. informal a scientist, esp one carrying out military research

2. a person who has extensive skill or knowledge in a particular field

   a Treasury boffin

3. informal someone who is considered to be very clever, often to the exclusion of all non-academic interests

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Etymology

Origin of boffin

First recorded in 1940–45; origin uncertain

Example Sentences

Fair play to the historians, and their big boffin heads, but we're not buying it.

From BBC • Jun. 18, 2021

In search of an answer, in 1795 the French government embraced crowd-sourcing, and offered a prize to any boffin able to solve the quandary.

From Time • Jun. 15, 2016

The British boffin still uses a pencil and pad in his Milton Keynes office, happily labeling himself the last of the design dinosaurs, while overseeing others who put concepts into practice.

From Reuters • Oct. 28, 2013

BA Our lives, as Cambridge maths boffin Professor David Spiegelhalter argues, begin and end at the mercy of chance.

From The Guardian • Oct. 15, 2012

You refer to the New Caledonian crow as a boffin, or technological geek.

From National Geographic