bookworm

[ book-wurm ]
See synonyms for bookworm on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a person devoted to reading or studying.

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

Origin of bookworm

1
First recorded in 1590–1600; book + worm

Words Nearby bookworm

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use bookworm in a sentence

  • While she should read well and wisely, the girl should not turn into a bookworm.

    The Canadian Girl at Work | Marjory MacMurchy
  • She was a good deal of a bookworm, and did a great deal of beautiful embroidery, and never said much.

    Winona of the Camp Fire | Margaret Widdemer
  • A dull bookworm like me,—cochlea vitam agens, Mr. Squills,—leading the life of a snail!

    The Caxtons, Complete | Edward Bulwer-Lytton
  • To tell the truth, a bookworm such as he is is one of the most irritating persons in existence.

    Girls of the Forest | L. T. Meade
  • It is no chimera of the recluse or the bookworm, but a potent reality.

    The World's Best Books | Frank Parsons

British Dictionary definitions for bookworm

bookworm

/ (ˈbʊkˌwɜːm) /


noun
  1. a person excessively devoted to studying or reading

  2. 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