egghead

«egghead» in Mova's school dictionary: interested in study and ideas, sometimes seen as out of… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

part of speech

noun (an egghead, eggheads)

meaning for a pupil

1) (informal, often mocking) A very clever person who is interested in study and ideas, sometimes seen as out of touch with real life. tree →

2) (informal, friendly) A brainy person, a «brainbox». tree →

sense in the lessons

Used in everyday talk, cartoons and the UK TV quiz show «Eggheads»; can be a gentle tease or an insult about being too clever; phrases: «a bunch of eggheads», «egghead scientists».

examples

• (informal) My brother is a real egghead who reads encyclopaedias for fun. tree →
• (informal) The eggheads at the university solved the puzzle. tree →
• The quiz show «Eggheads» has a team of very clever people. tree →
• (informal) Don't call him an egghead just because he likes maths. tree →
• (informal) The film's hero is a shy egghead who saves the day. tree →
• (informal) «Ask the egghead in our class,» joked Sam, pointing at Priya. tree →

note

Informal; can be unkind. Similar: brainbox, boffin (UK), nerd, geek. One word.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «egghead» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.