wonk

wonk
/wongk/, n. Slang.
1. a student who spends much time studying and has little or no social life; grind.
2. a stupid, boring, or unattractive person.
3. a person who studies a subject or issue in an excessively assiduous and thorough manner: a policy wonk.
[1960-65, Amer.; of expressive orig.; nautical slang wonk "a midshipman," Australian slang: "white person, homosexual" are prob. independent formations]

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Wonk — may refer to:* Wonk (slang) * Wonk (character), from The Adventures of Wonk by Muriel Levy * Policy wonk, an expert in the field of public policy and governmentSee Policy Analysis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Policy analysis See Center for… …   Wikipedia

  • wonk — [wɒŋk ǁ wɑːŋk] noun [countable] informal someone who works very hard, is very serious, and knows a lot about a particular subject: • He started to become a policy wonk in his new career as a management consultant. * * * wonk UK US /wɒŋk/ noun [C] …   Financial and business terms

  • wonk — [ waŋk ] noun count AMERICAN INFORMAL someone who works or studies extremely hard. This word shows that you dislike people like this. a. someone who is extremely interested in unimportant political facts: a policy wonk …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • wonk — wonk; wonk·ish; …   English syllables

  • wonk — [wɔŋk US wa:ŋk] n AmE informal someone who works hard and is serious used to show disapproval …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • wonk — overly studious person, 1954, Amer.Eng. student slang, popularized 1993 during Clinton administration in U.S.; perhaps a shortening of British slang WONKY (Cf. wonky) shaky, unreliable. Or perhaps a variant of British slang WANKER (Cf. wanker)… …   Etymology dictionary

  • wonk — [n] excessive studier bookworm, brain*, dweeb*, geek*, greasy grind*, grind*, grub*, nerd, poindexter, swotter*; concept 350 …   New thesaurus

  • wonk — ► NOUN N. Amer. informal, derogatory ▪ a studious or hard working person. ORIGIN of unknown origin …   English terms dictionary

  • wonk — [wäŋk] n. [back form. < WONKY] Slang ☆ 1. a student who studies very hard; grind ☆ 2. any very studious or hardworking person, often, specif., one preoccupied with a particular subject or field …   English World dictionary

  • wonk — UK [wɒŋk] / US [wɑŋk] noun [countable] Word forms wonk : singular wonk plural wonks informal 1) someone who is extremely interested in unimportant political facts a policy wonk 2) American showing disapproval someone who works or studies… …   English dictionary

  • wonk — [worjk] 1. n. an earnest student. (Collegiate.) □ Who’s the wonk who keeps getting the straight A’s? □ Yes, you could call Martin a wonk. In fact, he’s the classic wonk. 2. n. a bureaucrat; a flunky. □ The State Department policy wonks were up… …   Dictionary of American slang and colloquial expressions

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