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# nerd

«nerd» in Mova's school dictionary: **very interested and clever in one subject, such as…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

noun (a nerd, nerds); adjective (nerdy, nerdier, nerdiest)

### meaning for a pupil

1) (informal, slang) A person who is very interested and clever in one subject, such as computers, science or maths, and knows a lot about it. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/nerd/#m1)

2) (slang, can be unkind) A person thought of as boring or not cool because they study a lot or like unusual hobbies. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/nerd/#m2)

3) (informal, friendly) Used proudly about yourself: «I'm a book nerd». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/nerd/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In school life, «nerd» can be a teasing name, but today many people say it proudly: «science nerd», «maths nerd», «Lego nerd». In stories, the nerd character is often clever and saves the day. Phrases: «computer nerd», «total nerd», «nerd out about», «nerdy glasses».

### examples

- Sam is a total science nerd and knows every planet's moons. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/nerd/#x1)
- I'm a bit of a book nerd — I read every night. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/nerd/#x2)
- Don't call him a nerd; it's unkind. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/nerd/#x3)
- She nerded out about dinosaurs for an hour. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/nerd/#x4)
- The computer nerds in the film saved the spaceship. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/nerd/#x5)
- That joke about prime numbers is so nerdy. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/nerd/#x6)
- Being a nerd just means you really care about something. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/nerd/#x7)

### note

Countable: a nerd, nerds. Adjective «nerdy». Register: informal/slang; it can hurt when used to mock someone, so tone matters. Similar words: geek (very similar), boffin (UK, a clever scientist), swot (UK, someone who studies a lot).

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «nerd» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/nerd/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.