Etymology

wonk

W4O1N1K5

Today it means: An overly studious person, particularly a student. Full definition →

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The story

American English student slang 1954; perhaps navy slang before that. "Expert" sense popularized in the Clinton administration, 1993. Origin uncertain, possibly from wonky (“shaky, unreliable”) or wank, wanker or simply expressive.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.