BOOKWORM

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does bookworm mean? 

• BOOKWORM (noun)
  The noun BOOKWORM has 2 senses:

1. a person who pays more attention to formal rules and book learning than they merit

2. someone who spends a great deal of time reading

  Familiarity information: BOOKWORM used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BOOKWORM (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A person who pays more attention to formal rules and book learning than they merit

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

bookworm; pedant; scholastic

Hypernyms ("bookworm" is a kind of...):

bookman; scholar; scholarly person; student (a learned person (especially in the humanities); someone who by long study has gained mastery in one or more disciplines)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bookworm"):

purist (someone who insists on great precision and correctness (especially in the use of words))

Sense 2

Meaning:

Someone who spends a great deal of time reading

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("bookworm" is a kind of...):

reader (a person who enjoys reading)

 Context examples 

I've wanted it so long, said Jo, who was a bookworm.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

To a poor bookworm and invalid like myself such a blow is paralysing.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The moment Aunt March took her nap, or was busy with company, Jo hurried to this quiet place, and curling herself up in the easy chair, devoured poetry, romance, history, travels, and pictures like a regular bookworm.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)