empollón

Spanish

Etymology

From empollar +‎ -ón.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /empoˈʝon/ [ẽm.poˈʝõn] (Equatorial Guinea, most of Spain and Latin America)
IPA^(key): /empoˈʎon/ [ẽm.poˈʎõn] (rural northern Spain, Andes Mountains, Paraguay, Philippines)
IPA^(key): /empoˈʃon/ [ẽm.poˈʃõn] (Buenos Aires and environs)
IPA^(key): /empoˈʒon/ [ẽm.poˈʒõn] (elsewhere in Argentina and Uruguay)

Rhymes: -on
Syllabification: em‧po‧llón

Adjective

empollón (feminine empollona, masculine plural empollones, feminine plural empollonas)

(Spain) nerdy

Noun

empollón m (plural empollones, feminine empollona, feminine plural empollonas)

(Spain, derogatory) wonk, swot, nerd
Synonyms: chapón, (Spain) chapona, (Chile) mateo, (Spain) pitagorín

Related terms

empollar

Further reading

“empollón”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025