wonkish
- adjective
- /ˈwɒŋkɪʃ/
- Give us the wonkish fact, then hit the punchline.
Examples
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Both Sullivan and Clinton are wonkish and guarded.
Academic text (2017) -
There is nothing wonkish or complicated about it.
Blog text (1) -
His instincts are "wonkish," favoring policy details over political vision.
Academic text (1997) -
Like it or not, the fate of the world economy depends on a ragtag collection of technocrats, politicians, and wonkish legal experts.
Blog text (30) -
Even Bill Clinton, with his notoriously wonkish tendencies, still took advice from a relatively narrow circle of advisers.
Blog text (32) -
Biden has played an important role on these issues as well, and after four decades of talking about them in the Senate and on the Sunday morning talk shows, he should be able to hold his own even against the prodigiously wonkish Republican nominee.
Blog text (32) -
Robert Costa of the National Review rightly points out that Ryan can't get too wonkish about policy or risk "getting lost in the weeds"—he should stick to a few central themes and hammer Biden on the economy:
Blog text (23) -
His analysis of the budget was quite wonkish, filled with dense technical jargon that confused many listeners.
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During the seminar, her wonkish approach to explaining complex theories left some audience members struggling to keep up.
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The professor's lectures tend to be wonkish, as he often delves into intricate details that are hard for the average student to grasp.
Synonyms
Too focused on small rules and complex words that confuse people
Using special words from a certain job that most people find hard to understand
Too academic and formal for general readers to understand
How Technical
- Formal
- US
- Specialized
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Wonkish comes from the slang wonk, meaning 'someone who studies a lot' and who loves technical detail, like a bookworm for facts. So wonkish describes speech or writing that is full of detailed, technical ideas and can be hard for most people to follow.