bookworm

American  

[book-wurm] / ˈbʊkˌwɜrm /

noun

1. a person devoted to reading or studying.

2. any of various insects that feed on books, especially a booklouse.

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bookworm British  

/ ˈbʊkˌwɜːm /

noun

1. a person excessively devoted to studying or reading

2. any of various small insects that feed on the binding paste of books, esp the book louse

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Usage

What does bookworm mean? A bookworm is someone who’s always reading, usually because they just love to read or because they’re studying or both. Bookworm is sometimes used negatively to make fun of people who love to read. But it is more commonly used in a positive way, especially by book lovers proudly calling themselves bookworms. Bookworm can also be used literally as a general name for any insect that eats books. Example: Bookworms usually have huge vocabularies, so be careful when you play one in Scrabble.

Etymology

Origin of bookworm

First recorded in 1590–1600; book + worm

Explanation

A bookworm is someone who loves to read. If you're a true bookworm, you'd rather spend Friday nights on the couch with a book than out at a party. Some people are bookworms from the moment they first learn to read, while others grow into their love of books and reading after encountering a particularly wonderful book. Even people who didn't love the "Harry Potter" series of books mostly concede that they created a whole generation of bookworms. The word bookworm originally referred to a variety of insects that infest and eat paper, including the pages of books.

Example Sentences

When assistant head teacher Rebecca Howell, a bookworm herself, walks into a classroom, a child will always bring her a book and ask her to read it.

From BBC • Dec. 27, 2025

An under-the-radar prospect from Miami, Mendoza was such a bookworm in high school that some coaches stopped pursuing him because they questioned whether he really wanted to play football.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 9, 2025

You could be assigned a slovenly party animal who makes your life miserable or a studious bookworm you don’t see all semester.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 25, 2025

He was a lifelong bookworm who recalled taking out up to four novels a day from his local public library.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 14, 2023

“I thought you were the loveliest bookworm I’d ever seen in my life.”

From "When Dimple Met Rishi" by Sandhya Menon