pedantic
Americanadjective
-
ostentatious in one's learning.
-
overly concerned with minute details or formalisms, especially in teaching.
- Synonyms:
- doctrinaire, didactic
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of pedantic
Explanation
There's nothing wrong with focusing on the details, but someone who is pedantic makes a big display of knowing obscure facts and details. Pedantic means "like a pedant," someone who's too concerned with literal accuracy or formality. It's a negative term that implies someone is showing off book learning or trivia, especially in a tiresome way. You don't want to go antique-shopping with a pedantic friend, who will use the opportunity to bore you with his in-depth knowledge of 18th-century porcelain kitty-litter boxes.
Vocabulary lists containing pedantic
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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The SAT: Words to Capture Tone, List 7
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Pedantic jobsworths are like people who eat and talk at the same time: it’s better to stand by their side than face them head on.
From The Guardian • Jul. 30, 2014
Pedantic Brahms would raise an eyebrow at Ormandy's changes of tempo, but he would find it pretty good music just the same.
From Time Magazine Archive
“Holmesy, someday you’re going to win the Nobel Prize for Being Incredibly Pedantic, and I’m going to be so proud of you.”
From "Turtles All the Way Down" by John Green
Pedantic as these directions may seem, they are justified by experience, and the carrying out of the details given easily becomes a matter of habit.
From A System of Practical Medicine by American Authors, Vol. I Volume 1: Pathology and General Diseases by Various
Pedantic adherence to the composer's own conception is, to my mind, not an unassailable maxim.
From Piano Playing: With Piano Questions Answered by Hofmann, Josef
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
