Today's Word

Yesterday's Word

Archives

FAQ

Discuss
Email this
Feedback
RSS/XML
Permalink

A.Word.A.Day--poindexter

This week's theme: eponyms.

poindexter (POIN-dek-stuhr) noun

An extremely intelligent but socially inept person.

[After Poindexter, a character in the animated series Felix the Cat.]

Poindexter is a synonym of nerd or geek. In the cartoon, Poindexter is the nephew of The Professor, the arch-enemy of Felix the Cat. The creator of the cartoon series is said to have named the character Poindexter after his lawyer.

-Anu Garg (garg AT wordsmith.org)

"As more companies try to recruit business-literate CIOs, the title looks increasingly attractive to Young Turks who might earlier have dismissed it as a job for Poindexters."
Mindy Blodgett; Across the Great Divide; CIO (Framingham, Massachusetts); Dec 15, 1999.

X-Bonus