Meaning & use
geekery
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Meaning
noununcountableinformal
Enthusiastic, detailed interest in a hobby or subject such as technology, games or science fiction, or the activities and objects connected with it.
Grammar: No plural and no a: pure geekery, not a geekery.
Patterns
- geekery about something
- a bit of geekery
The convention was a weekend of comic book geekery.
Their dinner conversation turned to spreadsheet geekery again.
He indulges in a little retro gaming geekery on Sundays.
Common combinations
- pure geekery
- Building a computer from scratch is pure geekery.
- science fiction geekery
- Their house is full of science fiction geekery, from model ships to posters.
- indulge in geekery
- On holiday she likes to indulge in a bit of astronomy geekery.
- gaming geekery
- The podcast mixes gaming geekery with interviews.
- a lot of geekery
- There was a lot of geekery on display at the maker fair.
Synonyms and how they differ
- nerdiness
- Nerdiness describes a quality of a person, while geekery is more about the activity or stuff itself.
- obsession
- Obsession suggests something unhealthy, whereas geekery is usually light-hearted and positive.
- fandom
- Fandom refers to a community of fans, while geekery is the enthusiasm and trivia they enjoy.
Word family
- geek noun
- a person with intense interest in a niche subject
- geeky adjective
- typical of a geek
- geek out phrasal verb
- to talk with great enthusiasm about a favorite subject
- geekdom noun
- the world or community of geeks
Commonly confused: geekery or gawk?
geekery vs gawk
Gawk means to stare rudely and is unrelated to geekery, though it looks and sounds a little similar.
Practice
Complete the sentence: The festival is two days of film ____ for movie fans.
Choose one answer.
Geekery is uncountable, so it takes no plural or article. Geeks would refer to people, not the activity.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “geekery”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.