You call a stupid person a wanker, a wanker is a poser, an egoist, somebody who loves themselves. But it would also be used of somebody who is "full of shit", "having himself on", or "full of himself". Somebody pretending to be something they're not. Somebody who takes themselves seriously but other people think of as a joke. People who try too hard to be cool or trendy.
Convtroversial list of rock & roll wankers (opinion mine but may serve to illustrate):
"Wanker" is also not gender-specific though the overwhelming majority of wankers are male. "Person who wanks" would be much more accurate.
— Hippietrail 13:51, 18 Mar 2004 (UTC)
Wanker in the sense "Person who wanks" is not only used in UK, Australia and New Zealand, but also in the US, isn't it? 193.44.6.146 19:05, 26 June 2008 (UTC)
The first paragraph indicates that it's taboo and used inappropriately by US speakers, but the subsequent paragraph says it's NOT taboo. Could we editors make up our minds? -- Davidbspalding 19:47, 23 October 2009 (UTC)
Shouldn't there be a ref in the article to the American version, "Jerkoff?"