Word.ws English Dictionary

wonk

wonk noun: an overly studious person, particularly a student.

Noun

wonk (plural wonks)

  1. (derogatory, informal) An overly studious person, particularly a student.
    • Previously, e-reading had been the domain of early adopters and new technology wonks.2014, Catherine Sheldrick Ross, Pleasures of Reading, The: A Booklover's Alphabet, page 53
  2. (broadly, informal) A policy wonk or other intellectual expert.
    • This is the sort of standard that the Paul Ryans of the world trumpet to their constituents, to potential campaign contributors and to their peers in Congress. They become “budget wonks” and political superstars, even if their proposals are bound to go nowhere.2014 March 14, Dean Baker, “Paul Ryan isn't the wonk of Washington – it's time to listen to more good ideas”, in The Guardian

Verb

wonk (third-person singular simple present wonks, present participle wonking, simple past and past participle wonked)

  1. To cram for exams.
    • he is renowned in the dorm for his ability to “wonk” (Know spelled backward), or cram, for exams.1967 April 28, "Epikaira", “Violinists – The Truth Seeker”, in Time Magazine

Synonyms of wonk

All synonyms of wonk

Forms of wonk

Noun
pluralwonks
Verb
third-person singular presentwonks
present participlewonking
past participlewonked
pastwonked

Origin of wonk

American English student slang 1954; perhaps navy slang before that. "Expert" sense popularized in the Clinton administration, 1993. Origin uncertain, possibly from wonky (“shaky, unreliable”) or wank, wanker or simply expressive.

Words formed from wonk

Questions about wonk

What does wonk mean?
Wonk means an overly studious person, particularly a student.
What part of speech is wonk?
Wonk can be a noun or a verb.
What is the plural of wonk?
The plural of wonk is wonks.

Words near wonk in the dictionary

  1. Wongwibinda
  2. woning
  3. wonings
  4. wonju
  5. wonjus
  6. wonk
  7. wonk out
  8. Wonkaesque
  9. wonkdom
  10. wonked out
  11. wonker

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: wonk (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-wonk.ogg.

Cite this entry: “wonk.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/wonk. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.