noun
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a stupid or incompetent person
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a penis
Pop Culture
— King Dork: A coming-of-age novel by Frank Portman, first published in 2006. —Son of Dork: A pop punk band from the U.K. — Dork Tower: An online comic by John Kovalic.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of dork
First recorded in 1960–65; origin uncertain; perhaps a variant of dirk ( def. ), influenced by dick ( def. )
Compare meaning
How does dork compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
A dork is a socially inept person. If you started dancing the polka at a hip-hop club, you might well expect to hear "man, what a dork." Dork is one of many unkind names for the awkward or unpopular kids in school. Some others include dweeb, geek, goober, nerd, and weenie (try repeating that list really fast ten times). Most of these are not names you’d want to be called, although geek can denote a certain sense of pride in one’s uncoolness, or a proficiency in something useful.
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:
Meanwhile, Zuckerberg, who mostly stays on the sidelines of the movie, is now a mighty billionaire and, as Strong plays him, a dour, lifeless dork.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026
If I looked like a dork, at least I could zoom quickly past the judgment.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 21, 2026
Meanwhile, Tess beams with satisfaction that age alone has made Anna a dork and her the cool grandma.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2025
He doesn’t seem to be acting like a dork for the sake of views, or to trick us into believing his falsities.
From Slate ● Dec. 17, 2024
Is he saying he thinks I’m a dork?
From "Amina's Song" by Hena Khan
They’re practically statesmen compared with the dorks of yore.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 18, 2026
For the scholars and dorks among us, can you lay out the statutory argument that California made here, as well as the constitutional argument?
From Slate ● Jun. 13, 2025
At bottom, though, Rogen’s movies are sweet, fumbling love stories about sweet, fumbling dorks, and this has helped them age well.
From New York Times ● Apr. 20, 2021
The best manifestation of this is in the relationship between two characters named Demetri and Eli, who start the series as the dorkiest of the dorks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 18, 2021
We want to kiss each other good-bye, but instead we wave like awkward dorks and get into our cars and drive away in different directions.
From "Ask the Passengers" by A.S. King
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