Added 9 October 2026
nerd
/nɜːd/ noun
noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about nerd at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
- An insignificant student who is ridiculed as being affected or boringly studious.
- An intelligent but single-minded expert in a particular technical field or profession.
Origin
Unknown. Attested since 1951 as US student slang. * Perhaps an alteration of nerts (“nuts", "crazy”); see references below. * The word, capitalized, appeared in 1950 in Dr. Seuss’s If I Ran the Zoo as the name of an imaginary animal: *: And then, just to show them, I’ll sail to Katroo / And bring back an It-Kutch, a Preep and a Proo, / A Nerkle, a Nerd and a Seersucker too! * Possibly a rebracketing of inert as a nert, as in he's inert = he's a nerd, in reference to one's lack of competence or athletic ability. * Various unlikely folk etymologies and less likely backronymic speculations also exist.
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)