bookworm

[boo k-wurm]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR bookworm ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a person devoted to reading or studying.

any of various insects that feed on books, especially a booklouse.

Origin of bookworm

First recorded in 1590–1600; book + worm

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for bookworm

savant, scholar, intellectual, reader, bibliophile

Examples from the Web for bookworm

Historical Examples of bookworm

Because she has to live with old Vedder who is nothing but a bookworm.
An Orkney Maid
Amelia Edith Huddleston Barr
He was something of a bookworm at college, I believe, and has developed a taste for literature.
Against Odds
Lawrence L. Lynch
For the rest, he was a bookworm and revelled in intellectual pursuits.
A Little Girl in Old Salem
Amanda Minnie Douglas
The Bookworm's an uninteresting grub, Whether he's all alone or in a club.
A Phenomenal Fauna
Carolyn Wells
This old fellow is Mac, the bookworm, called Worm for short.
Eight Cousins
Louisa M. Alcott

British Dictionary definitions for bookworm

bookworm

noun

a person excessively devoted to studying or reading

any of various small insects that feed on the binding paste of books, esp the book louse

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

Word Origin and History for bookworm

1590s (of people), 1855 of insects or maggots; there is no single species known by this name, which is applied to the anolium beetle, silverfishes, and book lice. See book (n.) + worm (n.).