noun
dork
dawk
noun
1
A socially awkward or uncool person, often with unfashionable interests — usually said affectionately rather than as a real insult.
"He did a happy little dance and admitted, "Yeah, I'm a total dork about trains.""
"Only a dork would bring a briefcase to a beach party."
verb
1
To act in a clumsy, awkward, or goofy way.
"He dorked around with the karaoke machine until someone showed him how it worked."
How to Use Dork
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA dork is someone who's a bit uncool or awkward, usually in a harmless, even endearing way.
When to use it
Casual and generally affectionate — much milder than an insult like idiot.
Common pairings
total dork
such a dork
dork out over something
Word Forms
dorked past tense, dorks plural, dorks singular
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He did a happy little dance and admitted, "Yeah, I'm a total _____ about trains."
Etymology
American slang from around 1961; likely started as a softened, joking stand-in for a cruder word, later settling into its modern meaning of "lovable nerd."