Somebody who acts in a way that makes no sense to you.

In modern U.S.-originated global culture, the term is mostly used by jocks to refer to brainiacs, but in mid-Twentieth century Britain, a nerd was more usually someone who acted foolishly or recklessly, without considering the consequences, or was simply clumsy.

Consider: A student sits in the library studying hard for an important exam tommorrow. Her fun-loving soon-to-be burger flipper classmate lounges about on the grass outside soaking up some rays. Each looks through the window at the other and declares "What a nerd!"

Nerd can be used as an affectionate put-down among friends, usually indicating foolishness, or as a calculated insult, where it's meaning is somewhere between loser and geek.

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.

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

Never
Ending
Radical
Dude.