bookworm
Americannoun
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bookworms
plural
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a person devoted to reading or studying.
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any of various insects that feed on books, especially a booklouse.
noun
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a person excessively devoted to studying or reading
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any of various small insects that feed on the binding paste of books, esp the book louse
Usage
What does bookworm mean? A bookworm is someone who’s always reading, usually because they just love to read or because they’re studying or both. Bookworm is sometimes used negatively to make fun of people who love to read. But it is more commonly used in a positive way, especially by book lovers proudly calling themselves bookworms. Bookworm can also be used literally as a general name for any insect that eats books. Example: Bookworms usually have huge vocabularies, so be careful when you play one in Scrabble.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of bookworm
Explanation
A bookworm is someone who loves to read. If you're a true bookworm, you'd rather spend Friday nights on the couch with a book than out at a party. Some people are bookworms from the moment they first learn to read, while others grow into their love of books and reading after encountering a particularly wonderful book. Even people who didn't love the "Harry Potter" series of books mostly concede that they created a whole generation of bookworms. The word bookworm originally referred to a variety of insects that infest and eat paper, including the pages of books.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
He became a self-proclaimed "bookworm", reading Albert Camus, Toni Morrison, and Romain Gary, as well as fellow Haitian writers such as Jacques Roumain and James Noel.
From Barron's ● Sep. 30, 2026
Mary is a bookworm who draws her apt conclusions about human behavior from written wisdom.
From Salon ● May 20, 2026
His golden Gryffindor trio included Emma Watson as the muggle-born bookworm Hermione and Rupert Grint as the loyal but sometimes insensitive Ron.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 19, 2025
An under-the-radar prospect from Miami, Mendoza was such a bookworm in high school that some coaches stopped pursuing him because they questioned whether he really wanted to play football.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2025
In his own way, Gordy the bookworm was just as tough as Rowdy.
From "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie
Opening your own book shop might be a lofty daydream for some bookworms looking to escape their 9-5, but more and more people are making it a reality.
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026
For instance, if some bookworms want to stick to the west of downtown, they’ll still be in for quite a trip.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
So I always imagined my own children would similarly be bookworms and geeks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2025
Flour-based glues come from the insides of wheat grains and include gluten — which bookworms love as much as the rest of us.
From Salon ● May 7, 2024
“Yeah. Haley and Charles conked out, too. Guess it’s just us bookworms, huh?”
From "Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library" by Chris Grabenstein
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