as in nerd
a person slavishly devoted to intellectual or academic pursuits
every time he begged off a night at the pub—saying he had to study—his mates teased him for being a swot
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Recent Examples of swot
Ruby Tandoh, New Yorker, 25 Aug. 2025
The Oxbridge and Ivy League colleges traditionally had disparaging terms for students who worked too hard and devoted themselves too diligently to learning: swot in England, grind in the United States.
—John McIntyre, The Christian Science Monitor, 31 July 2023
So, swot up, then delegate.
—Barnaby Lashbrooke, Forbes, 4 May 2021
The Economist, 13 June 2020
Greenblatt might want to have a chinwag with some of his colleagues in the history department and swot up the biography of someone like Wisconsin’s Robert La Follette, a progressive populist politician perhaps more to his liking.
—Alex Beam, BostonGlobe.com, 2 May 2018
Noun
Nobody talked about the furtive ambition of the swots.
—Ruby Tandoh, New Yorker, 25 Aug. 2025
The Oxbridge and Ivy League colleges traditionally had disparaging terms for students who worked too hard and devoted themselves too diligently to learning: swot in England, grind in the United States.
—John McIntyre, The Christian Science Monitor, 31 July 2023
So, swot up, then delegate.
—Barnaby Lashbrooke, Forbes, 4 May 2021
Verb
Yamada Jun, the IT expert, became the CEO and travelled to Germany to swot up on renewables.
—The Economist, 13 June 2020
Greenblatt might want to have a chinwag with some of his colleagues in the history department and swot up the biography of someone like Wisconsin’s Robert La Follette, a progressive populist politician perhaps more to his liking.
—Alex Beam, BostonGlobe.com, 2 May 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for swot
Noun
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It was acquired by Brown-Forman in 1936 and promptly ruined by the company, according to today’s whiskey nerd standards, a few years later when it was turned into a blended whiskey (a category that was more popular at the time, and cheaper to make).—
Jonah Flicker,
Robb Report,
4 Feb. 2026
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Advertisement Especially for comedy nerds, the behind-the-scenes anecdotes about working with legends like Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder might be familiar.—
Judy Berman,
Time,
30 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Detectives are canvassing the neighborhood, reviewing surveillance footage and analyzing digital data, including cellphone information, according to Arizona police.—
Marley Malenfant,
Austin American Statesman,
5 Feb. 2026
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BestReviews spends thousands of hours researching, analyzing and testing products to recommend the best picks for most consumers.—
BestReviews,
Chicago Tribune,
5 Feb. 2026
Noun
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The stamp of the vaunted independent hip-hop label—which has built a reputation among its community of fanatical diehards and like-minded rap geeks for its lyric-forward, anti-commercial approach—can bring new eyes to a rapper overnight.—
Alphonse Pierre,
Pitchfork,
30 Jan. 2026
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For airline geeks and loyal fans of the Emirates brand, the livery was probably the highlight announcement coming from Dubai this week.—
Paula Conway,
Forbes.com,
27 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Robinson’s attorneys have ramped up claims of bias as the case has advanced, even accusing news outlets of using lip readers to deduce what the defendant is whispering to his attorneys during court hearings.—
Matthew Brown,
Chicago Tribune,
4 Feb. 2026
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Robinson’s attorneys have ramped up claims of bias as the case has advanced, even accusing news outlets of using lip readers to deduce what the defendant is whispering to his attorneys during court hearings.—
Matthew Brown,
Los Angeles Times,
3 Feb. 2026
Verb
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But there were always more pressing things to do than attend lectures or study rare manuscripts in the Radcliffe Camera, the beautiful circular reading room that’s the centerpiece of the Bodleian Library.—
Richard Godwin,
Travel + Leisure,
5 Feb. 2026
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The Opening Ceremony for the Milan Olympics is not until Friday, but for seasonal fans wanting to study up on who’s going for gold, hours of documentary programing in skiing, ice dancing and other sports are now available as streamers try to take a piece of the winter sports action from NBC.—
Sara Germano,
Sportico.com,
5 Feb. 2026
Verb
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As the 2025 season progressed, Jones returned to the hiring processes of defensive coordinators Matt Eberflus, Mike Zimmer and Dan Quinn — former head coaches with years of experience calling defenses — to find out what went wrong during the season.—
Dallas Morning News,
Dallas Morning News,
11 Feb. 2026
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Once the emperor found out, Valentine was executed.—
Jeff Wagner,
CBS News,
11 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Savannah, with her sister to her right and her brother to her left, read from a sheet of paper.—
Paige Williams,
New Yorker,
14 Feb. 2026
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Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.—
Greg Rosenstein,
NBC news,
13 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Meanwhile, senior leaders at Arizona State University were quietly hosting 30 leaders from Korean technical colleges to discuss how the United States might learn from their success in developing an AI-ready workforce.—
David Ignatius,
Washington Post,
11 Feb. 2026
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Researchers also learned that these 7- to 10-pound creatures, which are not much larger than a house cat, are impressively agile and travel about seven miles a day in extremely rugged territory.—
Clara Harter,
Los Angeles Times,
11 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Swot.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/swot. Accessed 14 Feb. 2026.
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