dweeb
/dwiːb/
"dweeb" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“dweeb” is uncommon English (frequency #61,430 among 26,416 “D” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #61,430
- frequency rank, English
- 26,416
- “D” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A boring, studious, or socially inept person.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | dweeb |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /dwiːb/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #61,430 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “dweeb” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
dweeb is uncommon English at frequency #61,430 among 26,416 “D” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /dwiːb/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A boring, studious, or socially inept person.".
Zero misspellings are on record for dweeb in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From 1968 US college slang, probably related to feeb. The 1980s backronym Dim-Witted Eastern-Educated Boor derives from apparent social and attitudinal differences between West Coast and East Coast US, and describes a stereotypical Ivy League graduate from … The correct English form is dweeb, spelled D-W-E-E-B.
Definition
- 1A boring, studious, or socially inept person.
Etymology
From 1968 US college slang, probably related to feeb. The 1980s backronym Dim-Witted Eastern-Educated Boor derives from apparent social and attitudinal differences between West Coast and East Coast US, and describes a stereotypical Ivy League graduate from Harvard, Yale, etc. Etymology tree ▲ English feebinflu. English dweeb
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “dweeb”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is D-W-E-E-B - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /dwiːb/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.