• Nerdom

    Alternative forms

    Origin

    nerd + -dom; US, 1983.

    “nerddom”, Word Spy

    Note that -dom is used both in the sense of “domain” (nerds, as a group) and in the sense of “characteristics” (being a nerd, nerdiness).

    Full definition of nerdom

    Noun

    nerdom

    (uncountable)
    1. (colloquial, rare) The attitudes and behaviours of a nerd; nerdiness.
      • 1983, Nan C. Robertson, “Tigers or ‘top girls,’ Valerie Mahaffey adjusts,” The New York Times, April 1, 1983When she was 17 she fell in love with a schoolmate named Ben: 'Together, we pulled each other out of nerddom,' she said.
      • 1997, Frederick S. Clarke, Cinefantastique, Volume 29The self-described "exemplar of nerdom" feels right at home with Carl Sagan's speculative science-fiction.
      • 2008, Maximum PC (October 2008)Even movies that first appear to add a promising element of nerdom always end up doing something dumb, like tarnishing a tense computer-based drama with idiotic and unusable (but oh so very sexy) 3D interfaces.
    2. (colloquial, rare) Nerds, considered as a group.
      • 2009, Jack Nutting, Dave Mark, Jeff LaMarche, Learn Cocoa on the MacI still chuckle at some of jokes that we targeted to very narrow slices of nerdom.

    Usage notes

    The rough synonym geekdom is more common.

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