twerp

Valid in Scrabble

Scrabble points
10
Words With Friends
11
Letters
5
Pronunciation
/twɝp/
See all 2 pronunciations
/twɝp/ · /twɜːp/

Definition of twerp

3 senses · 1 part of speech · etymology included

noun

  1. (UK, colloquial)A fool, a twit.
    “Now you've broken it, you twerp!”
    “There's many an airman just finishin' his time. There's many a twerp signing on.”
See all 3 definitions

noun

  1. (UK, colloquial)A fool, a twit.
    “Now you've broken it, you twerp!”
    “There's many an airman just finishin' his time. There's many a twerp signing on.”
  2. (US, childish, colloquial)A small or puny person; one regarded as insignificant, contemptible.
    “Get out of my way, you little twerp!”
  3. (US, childish, colloquial)A person who can be bullied playfully, or easily teased. Sometimes used as a pet-name (often for a younger sibling).

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Etymology

Of uncertain origin; originally British slang of the 1910s. In a letter, dated 6 October 1944, J. R. R. Tolkien mentions a contemporary of his at Oxford University T.W. Earp,…

See full etymology

Of uncertain origin; originally British slang of the 1910s. In a letter, dated 6 October 1944, J. R. R. Tolkien mentions a contemporary of his at Oxford University T.W. Earp, calling him "the original twerp"; but no corroborating evidence for this etymology has come to light. Other suggestions include: a clipping of Antwerp (“type of racing pigeon that flew between Antwerp and London”); the onomatopoeic twirp (“imitation of the sound of a bird”); a dialectal variant of dwarf (compare Middle English dwerf); Welsh twp (“a fool”).

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2 extensions · 2 back

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