swot en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /swɑt/ (General-American)
- /swɒt/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- /swɔt/ (Australia)
- (Australia) audio
Etymology
From a dialectal English word, from Middle English swot, swat, from Old English swāt (“perspiration; sweat”), from Proto-Germanic *swaitą (“sweat”). More at sweat.
Meanings
-
(Ireland, UK, countable, informal, slang, uncountable) One who swots; a boffin, nerd, or smart aleck.
On first listen, Americans of a certain vintage would call one a Poindexter, while older Brits would regard the other as a swot.
2023 August 8, Janan Ganesh, “The oneness of Ron DeSantis and Rishi Sunak”, in Financial Times:He liked Tom all right... Sampson and Bullock he could do without, however. Especially Sampson, who was too much of a grammar-school-type swot ever to be quite the thing.
1991, Stephen Fry, The Liar, page 23:The popular science bit goes like this. Your brain has two hemispheres, left and right. The left is the organised swot who likes bright light, keeps his bedroom tidy and can tolerate sums. Your right hemisphere is your brain on drugs: the long-haired, creative type you don't bring home to mother.
2006 April 18, Philip Beadle, “Mind maps: rubbish in theory, but handy in practice”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
-
(Ireland, UK, countable, informal, slang, uncountable) Work.
All I want is — guerre fini, soldat fini; and to go home without burden of any thought save music, and hard swot for a time.
Quoted in 1983, Ivor Gurney, Robert Kelsey Rought Thornton, War Letters: A Selection (page 254)
- (Ireland, UK, countable, informal, slang, uncountable) Vigorous study at an educational institution.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| swots | Number=Plur | lexicographic | |
| swat | alternative | lexicographic |
Deriveds
Translations (38)
gl chapón (one who swots) · es mateo (one who swots) · sv plugghäst (one who swots) · fr tapin (work) · pt marrão (one who swots) · fr bûcheur (one who swots) · bg зубрене (vigorous study) · cmn 死記者 /死记者 (one who swots) · fr bachoteur (one who swots) · de Pauken (vigorous study) · fi pinko (one who swots) · es chapona (one who swots) · ja 我利勉 (one who swots) · ru зубрёжка (vigorous study) · gv ard-studeyr (one who swots) · ko 공부벌레 (one who swots) · fi hikari (one who swots) · fr bosseur (one who swots) · ja がり勉 (vigorous study) · es empollón (one who swots) · ru вка́лывание (work) · bg зубрач (one who swots) · fi hikipinko (one who swots) · fi hikke (one who swots) · es chapón (one who swots) · de Büffler (one who swots) · ja がり勉 (one who swots) · fr bachotage (vigorous study) · ru зубри́ла (one who swots) · es chancón (one who swots) · fr boulot (work) · nl blokker (one who swots) · pl kujon (one who swots) · de Büffeln (vigorous study) · es empollona (one who swots) · cmn 死記 /死记 (vigorous study) · nl blok (vigorous study) · fr bachot (vigorous study)