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Of Nerds, Geeks, and Dorks
This trio of words historically refers to the uncool among us. Dork, when used to refer to a socially awkward or inept person, is a relatively recent word: our records indicate that it first appeared in writing in the 1960s. Two of its synonyms in this sense are likewise of fairly recent vintage. Nerd (typically used of a studious species of dork) dates from the 1950s; it may have been coined by Dr. Seuss in his 1950 book If I Ran the Zoo, although not in the sense that we use today. Nerd is now often used in a neutral fashion to denote enthusiasm or expertise (theater nerd) or proudly as a self-identifying trait (word nerd). Geek became synonymous with nerd in the 1950s and has similarly seen increasing use with positive connotations, highlighting membership in a specialized group (film geek, beer geek) rather than social awkwardness. In its earliest meanings, geek referred to, among other things, a carnival performer who would bite the head off a live chicken, or other small animal, as part of an act.
Examples of geek in a Sentence
Camila Pedrosa, Sacramento Bee, 24 Feb. 2025
This geek will make one bit of idle speculation here: That grassland planet that’s shown here?
—Christian Blauvelt, IndieWire, 24 Feb. 2025
Much is going right in Portland, except for those advocating for the tank — oh, and also for any geeks who realized Camara put the kibosh on a chance at history when the basketball rolled off his fingertips.
—Fred Katz, The Athletic, 21 Feb. 2025
Footage showing a previously unseen Chinese warplane scrambled aviation geeks Thursday, with some joking the clips were the perfect Christmas present.
—Colin Demarest, Axios, 26 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for geek
Cite this Entry
“Geek.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/geek. Accessed 12 Mar. 2025.
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