wonk \wongk\,
noun:
1. a stupid, boring, or unattractive person.
2. a student who spends much time studying and has little or no social life; grind.
3. a person who studies a subject or issue in an excessively assiduous and thorough manner: a policy wonk.
“This is a guy who has been a policy wonk for his adult life, not only interested in what’s going on but really keeping up with it—and he’s smart as hell.”
-- John Colapinto, "Enter Laughing: Senator Franken's long journey," The New Yorker, 2009
…Nick…found himself…running up the stairs of the Capitol in pursuit of the senator's chief aide, a gangly wonk in glasses…
-- Karen Olsson, "Waterloo: A Novel," 2006
The origin of wonk, a word that entered English as US slang in the 1960s, is unknown, though it might be a shortening of the UK slang wonky.
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