wonk

American  

[wongk] / wɒŋk /

noun

Slang.

1. a student who spends much time studying and has little or no social life; grind.

2. a stupid, boring, or unattractive person.

3. a person who studies a subject or issue in an excessively assiduous and thorough manner.

   They’re searching for a policy wonk to lead the economic institute’s think tank.

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wonk British  

/ wɒŋk /

noun

1. informal a person who is obsessively interested in a specified subject

   a foreign policy wonk

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Other Word Forms

• wonkish adjective

Etymology

Origin of wonk

An Americanism first recorded in 1960–65; of expressive origin; nautical slang wonk “a midshipman,” and Australian slang “white person; gay man” are probably independent formations

Example Sentences

But as Scott Solomon shows in “Becoming Martian: How Living in Space Will Change Our Bodies and Minds,” bureaucrats and policy wonks are drawing up plans, too.

From The Wall Street Journal

Those wonks in turn say representing rock stars and pop icons makes their job more appealing.

From The Wall Street Journal

Colleagues, including some Republicans, describe her as reasonable and a policy wonk who loves spreadsheets.

From Los Angeles Times

Even for policy wonks, it’s a challenge to keep up with the cadence of discounts and negotiated prices while deciphering what is merely optics and what represents actual savings.

From MarketWatch

Analytically minded front offices, full of Ivy League data wonks with little or no playing experience, have far less reverence for baseball orthodoxy and have begun looking for talent in unusual places.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• geek
• nerd