geek
Americannoun
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a digital-technology expert or enthusiast (a term of pride as self-reference, but often used disparagingly by others).
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a person who has excessive enthusiasm for and some expertise about a specialized subject or activity.
a foreign-film geek.
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a peculiar person, especially one who is perceived to be overly intellectual, unfashionable, or socially awkward.
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a carnival performer who performs sensationally morbid or disgusting acts, as biting off the head of a live chicken.
verb (used without object)
noun
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a person who is preoccupied with or very knowledgeable about computing
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a boring and unattractive social misfit
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a degenerate
Usage
What is a geek? A geek is a person who is an expert or fan of technology and computers, as in He gave the assignment to the geeks in the IT department. Geek is also used more generally to refer to someone who is especially passionate or knowledgeable about something, as in Shawna is the biggest Star Trek geek I know, going to all the conventions. A geek is also someone who is judged to be too intelligent and socially awkward or just quirky or odd, especially in high school groups, as in At my high school, the geeks got along with the goths but hated the jocks. In the past, the word geek was used to refer specifically to a carnival performer who performed disgusting acts. Today, this usage is incredibly rare, and you can use geek as an insult or endearment, especially when describing yourself. Geek can be used as a verb to mean to express intense enthusiasm about something or to discuss it passionately, as in My friends were all geeking out about the new Spider-Man movie. Example: My dad has always been a baseball geek, telling me all of the stats and who the upcoming stars will be.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of geek
First recorded in 1915–20; probably variant of geck (mainly Scots ) “fool,” from Dutch or Low German gek
Explanation
Geek is a slang term for someone who is really intelligent or knowledgeable, especially about a particular topic. If you're a Star Trek geek, you know absolutely everything about the famous television show and its spin-offs. Live long and prosper! Intelligence does more good than stupidity, so the negative way people sometimes use the term geek seems unfair. So if you're a geek when it comes to computers, chess, books, sports statistics, or just about anything — be proud! The Scottish root word geck translates as “fool,” and many famous geeks were called fools before their ideas changed the world. Remember, today’s geek is tomorrow’s billionaire.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
One way he did that was by revealing his inner geek.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 21, 2026
The self-confessed military history geek was on a trip with fellow enthusiasts and realised a big flaw in online dating apps.
From BBC ● May 21, 2026
Economist Savvas Savouri is a self-confessed data geek: “I live and breathe numbers,” he says.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 15, 2026
But to my eyes, this fandom appears to be a place where anyone is welcome to fantasize, dream, draw, speculate or just plain geek out.
From Salon ● Apr. 12, 2026
He was always asking her questions about the geek.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
These geeks – a term I use lovingly, for the most part – protected the notion of canon as fiercely as their lunchbox collections.
From Salon ● May 5, 2026
The problem for data geeks like Savouri, however, and for investors, is the increasingly unreliable raw material that governments are providing them.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 15, 2026
The thinking is that AI will make it easy for a few geeks “vibe coding” to replace their valuable franchises.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 15, 2026
One corner of Sundance was just for the geeks: the Holiday Village Cinemas, a humble quadraplex that hosted press and industry screenings from breakfast till dark.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 31, 2026
“Nope. No party. No boyfriend. But some geeks over on Lancaster Road invited me to their all-night Monopoly party. Wanna go and crash it with me?”
From "Please Ignore Vera Dietz" by A.S. King
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
