as in nerd
a person slavishly devoted to intellectual or academic pursuits
every time he begged off a night at the pub—saying he had to study—his mates teased him for being a swot
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Recent Examples of swot
John McIntyre, The Christian Science Monitor, 31 July 2023
So, swot up, then delegate.
—Barnaby Lashbrooke, Forbes, 4 May 2021
The Economist, 13 June 2020
Greenblatt might want to have a chinwag with some of his colleagues in the history department and swot up the biography of someone like Wisconsin’s Robert La Follette, a progressive populist politician perhaps more to his liking.
—Alex Beam, BostonGlobe.com, 2 May 2018
Noun
The Oxbridge and Ivy League colleges traditionally had disparaging terms for students who worked too hard and devoted themselves too diligently to learning: swot in England, grind in the United States.
—John McIntyre, The Christian Science Monitor, 31 July 2023
So, swot up, then delegate.
—Barnaby Lashbrooke, Forbes, 4 May 2021
Verb
Yamada Jun, the IT expert, became the CEO and travelled to Germany to swot up on renewables.
—The Economist, 13 June 2020
Greenblatt might want to have a chinwag with some of his colleagues in the history department and swot up the biography of someone like Wisconsin’s Robert La Follette, a progressive populist politician perhaps more to his liking.
—Alex Beam, BostonGlobe.com, 2 May 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for swot
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
Verb
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This includes the Dialogue Agent, which allows both data teams and non-technical users to interact with structured data through natural language queries, and the Explanation Agent, which analyzes query results and provides clear, summarized insights.—
Andre Claudio,
Sourcing Journal,
27 May 2025
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The 2009 study analyzed how honeybees are affected by low doses of cocaine.—
Scott Lafee,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
27 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
Verb
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But part of the trade math moving forward will also likely be deducing if nations threatening digital services taxes or tariffs can actually follow through on those threats.—
Ashley Belanger – May 20,
ArsTechnica,
20 May 2025
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Flask samples still deduce sources’ CO2 fingerprints.—
Ashley Braun,
Smithsonian Magazine,
19 May 2025
Verb
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This can be helpful for studying rare diseases, in particular.6 Cost: DCTs also reduce the cost of conducting a study because there is no central facility to manage.—
Carrie Madormo,
Health,
31 May 2025
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Whether Trump truly studied Mayweather’s moves or simply mirrored them instinctively, the similarities are clear—and Lampley might be one of the only people to call it out this directly.—
Brian Mazique,
Forbes.com,
31 May 2025
Verb
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Arvind Limited and Fashion for Good want to find out.—
Jasmin Malik Chua,
Sourcing Journal,
3 June 2025
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When a 6-year-old boy hadn’t been to school in weeks, deputies went to his home for a welfare check and found out his mother had killed him during an exorcism, Florida authorities said.—
Olivia Lloyd,
Miami Herald,
2 June 2025
Verb
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What great fun to read about Monty and Rose, Searocket and Imani, Sage, Uncle Larry, Pepper and Blaze, just to name a few, and actually see photos of them, courtesy of skilled photojournalists.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
31 May 2025
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The share who said students should learn to read in kindergarten increased to 80 percent from 31 percent.—
Claire Cain Miller,
New York Times,
31 May 2025
Verb
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Ginny, who winds up pregnant after striking up a romance with Wolfe (Ty Doran) from her poetry class, decides to terminate her pregnancy shortly after learning of her condition, and her mom is completely on board with whatever her daughter wants.—
Julia Moore,
People.com,
5 June 2025
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As word of Pali’s interest traveled, Magee said, the Philharmonic’s board of directors learned of the school’s situation.—
Christopher Buchanan,
Los Angeles Times,
5 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Swot.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/swot. Accessed 10 Jun. 2025.
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