didactic

Also di·dac·ti·cal

[dahy-dak-tik]

adjective

1. intended for instruction; instructive.

   didactic poetry.

2. inclined to teach or lecture others too much.

   a boring, didactic speaker.

   Synonyms: pedagogical, donnish, preachy, pedantic

3. teaching or intending to teach a moral lesson.

4. (used with a singular verb),  didactics, the art or science of teaching.

didactic

/ dɪˈdæktɪk /

adjective

1. intended to instruct, esp excessively

2. morally instructive; improving

3. (of works of art or literature) containing a political or moral message to which aesthetic considerations are subordinated

Other Word Forms

• didactically adverb
• didacticism noun
• nondidactic adjective
• nondidactically adverb
• undidactic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of didactic¹

First recorded in 1635–45; from Greek didaktikós “apt at teaching, instructive,” from didakt(ós) “that may be taught, teachable” (from didáskein “to teach”) + -ikos -ic

Word History and Origins

Origin of didactic¹

C17: from Greek didaktikos skilled in teaching, from didaskein to teach

Example Sentences

Here’s where “Ginny & Georgia” might have launched into a didactic, pro-abortion-rights lecture cloaked in a TV drama, or played it safe by pulling back and highlighting both women’s stories in equal measure.

From Los Angeles Times

This is what art gives us that didactic political proclamations on Bluesky cannot: freedom to play, experiment and marinate in the gray spaces where most of life happens.

From Salon

The star went on to admit that during that period of time she "might have got a little didactic about it."

From BBC

It’s a shrewd aside from the larger story, but one that succinctly highlights how women must constantly be aware of their surroundings without being didactic and obvious.

From Salon

It is as didactic as it is aspirational — especially at a time when executive orders from President Trump continue to target and erase trans lives.

From Los Angeles Times