as in nerd
a person slavishly devoted to intellectual or academic pursuits
the candidate has an army of policy wonks ready to write for him a position paper on virtually any issue
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Recent Examples of wonk
At the same time, a growing chorus of policy wonks and public officials, including yours truly, have argued that Americans shouldn’t have to buy a college degree in order to find remunerative employment.
—
Frederick Hess, Forbes, 18 Sep. 2024
Instead of adopting an oath of humility, economics has since churned out generations of model-wielding academics and policy wonks.
—Philipp Carlsson-Szlezak and Paul Swartz, TIME, 31 July 2024
The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 spent most of the first year of its existence in relative obscurity, known primarily by policy wonks.
—Brady Knox, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 29 July 2024
The surprise price decline is seismic news, at least among econ wonks and a narrow strata of reporters who follow this stuff with the fervor of a tween Swiftie.
—Allison Morrow, CNN, 12 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for wonk 
Frederick Hess, Forbes, 18 Sep. 2024
Instead of adopting an oath of humility, economics has since churned out generations of model-wielding academics and policy wonks.
—Philipp Carlsson-Szlezak and Paul Swartz, TIME, 31 July 2024
The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 spent most of the first year of its existence in relative obscurity, known primarily by policy wonks.
—Brady Knox, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 29 July 2024
The surprise price decline is seismic news, at least among econ wonks and a narrow strata of reporters who follow this stuff with the fervor of a tween Swiftie.
—Allison Morrow, CNN, 12 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for wonk
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Cite this Entry
“Wonk.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wonk. Accessed 31 Dec. 2024.
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