A generally intelligent individual who has an in-depth interest (or interests) in a particular area, far more than the average joe. They are typically cast as having a lack of social skills and "no life", whatever that may mean. All of these statements may or may not be true, depending on the person.

Bill Gates once observed that you should "be nice to nerds. You'll probably end up working for one one day", or a similar phrase.

Nerds either do or do not share one or more characteristics with geeks, depending on who you ask.

They also seem to be somewhat bitter at the possibly unjust typecasting they receive on behalf of society at large. Nerds generally get victimised by society for their difference, and so seem to feel the need to fight back by "reclaiming the term" to mean something good. Their general (but by no means pervasive) lack of social skills means that much of this "nerd and proud" vitriol is vented on the Internet and nowhere else.

(see other definitions for proof of this)

One whose IQ exceeds his weight.

An individual persecuted for his superior skills or intellect, most often by people who fear and envy him.

An 'individual', i.e. a person who does not conform to society's beliefs that all people should follow trends and do what their peers do. Often highly intelligent but socially rejected because of their obesssion with a given subject, usually computers. Unfortunately, nerds seem to have problems breeding, to the detriment of mankind as a whole.

A stereotypical label used to describe a person that is socially inadequate. A four letter word, but a six figure income.

A person who gains pleasure from amassing large quantities of knowledge about subjects often too detailed or complicated for most other people to be bothered with.

Often mistaken for Geeks, who aspire to become nerds, yet lack the intelligence, and end up giving nerds a bad name due to their poor social skills.

Non-nerds are often scared of nerds, due to their detailed knowledge, and therefore seemingly high levels of intelligence - and subsequently denegrate them as much as possible as often as possible.

Nerds exist covertly within the fabric of society, often choosing to 'nerd it up' in private or in the company of fellow nerds. It is for this reason they are feared the most - unlike geeks, who are easily identified, nerds can only be found out when casual conversation reaches a subject that they like nerding.

Never
Ending
Radical
Dude.

the group of people who will most likely make a life changing invention that will radically change the world. the computer was invented by a nerd. the macintosh/apple and windows were invetned by nerds. jocks and normal people have no claim to civilization except for being the hard labor. nerds actually do the thinking. so jocks, fuck you, and go eat your steroids