1
as in nerd
a person slavishly devoted to intellectual or academic pursuits
we became friends when we discovered we were both dorks who had memorized the periodic table in high school
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2
as in idiot
a stupid person
he tried to be suave, but she still thought he was a dork
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of dork
But talk to people who watch a wide swath of competitive reality shows — the real hard-core gamer dorks (complimentary) — and many will tell you that Big Brother is the best, most pure version of a social-strategy game.
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Joe Reid, Vulture, 30 Jan. 2025
Monica invites to dinner an old friend from high school, Will, who was an even bigger dork than Ross back in the day.
—Brian Boone, Vulture, 15 Nov. 2024
The action-comedy follows popular girl Momo Ayase and isolated dork Ken Takakura, who bond over a mutual appreciation of the unexplained: One believes in ghosts, the other aliens.
—Kambole Campbell, Vulture, 30 Aug. 2024
In the beginning, the idea was greeted with idle condescension: check out these grandiose Internet dorks and their digital Monopoly money.
—Gideon Lewis-Kraus, The New Yorker, 9 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for dork
Joe Reid, Vulture, 30 Jan. 2025
Monica invites to dinner an old friend from high school, Will, who was an even bigger dork than Ross back in the day.
—Brian Boone, Vulture, 15 Nov. 2024
The action-comedy follows popular girl Momo Ayase and isolated dork Ken Takakura, who bond over a mutual appreciation of the unexplained: One believes in ghosts, the other aliens.
—Kambole Campbell, Vulture, 30 Aug. 2024
In the beginning, the idea was greeted with idle condescension: check out these grandiose Internet dorks and their digital Monopoly money.
—Gideon Lewis-Kraus, The New Yorker, 9 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for dork
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dork
Noun
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Fuller, like many a brilliant nerd, was initially awkward with her peers.—
James Marcus,
New Yorker,
2 June 2025
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Most of us would settle for Lucozade and a duvet on the settee, but Howe is Newcastle’s king nerd.—
George Caulkin,
New York Times,
29 May 2025
Noun
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Owner David Rubenstein needs to get rid of Elias (maybe Cal Ripken Jr. would agree to the job) and get baseball people instead of computer geeks to run the team.—
Reader Commentary,
Baltimore Sun,
22 May 2025
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Jon Cherry/Getty Images For years, crypto was viewed by many as a weird and fringe investment, hyped up by a bunch of math geeks and used widely by all kinds of unsavory characters, from drug dealers to hackers.—
Rafael Nam,
NPR,
19 May 2025
Noun
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Sometimes too stupid is actually smartski but sometimes is just stupid stupid.—
Caroline Downey,
National Review,
27 Mar. 2025
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An underrated gem — not enough people have seen this top-tier season — Squirrels Trip has some fabulous vocals, very funny lyrics, a heavy dose of stupid, and an engaging story.—
Barry Levitt,
Vulture,
21 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Dork.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dork. Accessed 6 Jun. 2025.
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