twerp
Plural: twerps
Noun
- A foolish, insignificant, or contemptible person.
- someone who is regarded as contemptible
- A fool, a twit.
- A small or puny person; one regarded as insignificant, contemptible.
- A person who can be bullied playfully, or easily teased. Sometimes used as a pet-name (often for a younger sibling).
Examples
- Get out of my way, you little twerp!
- He silently labeled his opponent a TWERP after a particularly smug, low-scoring play.
- Now you've broken it, you twerp!
Origin / 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”).
Synonyms
twirp, twit, absolute zero, asswipe, badling, blatherskite, bugger, carrion, cipher, cockstain, crumb, custron, dandiprat, doink, fellow, fritlag, geek, git, good-for-naught, good-for-nothing, hoon, lidderon, losel, loser, louse, maggot, ne'er-do-well, no-good, no-mark, nonce, nonentity, nowmun, pelf, pig dog, pile of shit, pissant, punk, puny, quat, ramp, rinky-dink, roly-poly, scullion, slubberdegullion, sparrow-fart, streak of piss, toerag, truant, twerk, twerp, underperson, unworthy, wankstain, waste of space
Scrabble Score: 10
twerp: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordtwerp: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
twerp: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary