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Nerdy vs Bookish - What's the difference?

nerdy | bookish |

As adjectives the difference between nerdy and bookish

is that nerdy is (colloquial|derogatory|of a person) being or like a nerd while bookish is given to reading; fond of study; better acquainted with books than with people; learned from books.

nerdy

English

(Nerd)

Adjective

(er)
  • (colloquial, derogatory, of a person) Being or like a nerd.
  • That guy is nerdy and weird.
  • (colloquial, derogatory, of a quality or interest) Of, pertaining to, in the style of, or appealing to nerds.
  • That is a nerdy song.
    I got a pair of nerdy glasses and clothes for Halloween.

    Synonyms

    * (like a nerd) nerdish

    See also

    * geeky

    bookish

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Given to reading; fond of study; better acquainted with books than with people; learned from books.
  • * 1783 , , The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin ?, page 16
  • From a child I was fond of reading, and all the little money that came into my hands was ever laid out in books. This bookish inclination at length determined my father to make me a printer, though he had already one son (James) of that profession.
  • Characterized by a method of expression generally found in books.
  • * 1996 , Helen L. Harrison, Pistoles/Paroles: Money and Language in Seventeenth-century French Comedy? , page 50
  • Obviously, neither Corneille nor the characters who laugh at excessively bookish speech avoid literary convention.

    Synonyms

    * (characterized by expression found in books) formal, labored, literary, pedantic

    Derived terms

    * bookishly * bookishness

    See also

    * nerd

    Anagrams

    *