Jerry SpinelliEd BlankKendall HamiltonStephen Schaefer Stanley Bing 
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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.
Synonyms
Examples of dork in a Sentence
Brian Boone, Vulture, 15 Nov. 2024
Only dorks get excited when teams move around money for future flexibility.
—Grant Brisbee, The Athletic, 31 July 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
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Cite this Entry
“Dork.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dork. Accessed 25 Dec. 2024.
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dork
noun
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