erudition

[ er-yoo-dish-uh n, er-oo- ]

/ ˌɛr yʊˈdɪʃ ən, ˌɛr ʊ- /

knowledge acquired by study, research, etc.; learning; scholarship.

Words nearby erudition

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin ērudītiōn- (stem of ērudītiō) an instruction. See erudite, -ion

er·u·di·tion·al, adjectivenon·er·u·di·tion, noun

As you can see, there is plenty of erudition to go with the laughs.
Boris Johnson’s Churchill Man Crush|Michael F. Bishop|November 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But he shares with Foster Wallace a gift for exactitude, erudition, and moral concern.
Charles D’Ambrosio’s X-Ray Vision Is On Full Display In His New Essay Collection.|Steve Almond|November 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Iyer employs a terrific combination of erudition and absurdity that calls to mind the great postmodernists.
Lars Iyer’s ‘Wittgenstein Jr.’ Plumbs the Deep Fun of Philosophical Fiction|Drew Smith|October 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Anderson carries his erudition lightly, but there's enough scholarship there to make an academic proud.
T.E. Lawrence Rides Again in Scott Anderson’s New History|Melik Kaylan|August 7, 2013|DAILY BEAST

I respect Rabbi Yosef's erudition and his brave and sometimes iconoclastic halakhic (Jewish legal) writings.
A Confession on the Ninth of Av|Samuel Lebens|July 15, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Erudition was worthily represented there, and there was every probability of justice.
A Popular History of France From The Earliest Times|Francois Pierre Guillaume Guizot
When one is hungering for erudition, to be offered compliments!
The Daughters of Danaus|Mona Caird
The men appreciated that, although they were proud of his erudition and books.
The Black Opal|Katharine Susannah Prichard
He then makes vague and fearful insinuations about my grammar and my erudition.
Miscellanies|Oscar Wilde
Thus, the priesthood were respected both for their office and for their erudition.
An Illustrated History of Ireland from AD 400 to 1800|Mary Frances Cusack