pedant

American  

[ped-nt] / ˈpɛd nt /

noun

1. a person who makes an excessive or inappropriate display of learning.

2. a person who overemphasizes rules or minor details.

   Synonyms:

   hairsplitter

3. a person who adheres rigidly to book knowledge without regard to common sense.

4. Obsolete. a schoolmaster.

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pedant British  

/ ˈpɛdənt /

noun

1. a person who relies too much on academic learning or who is concerned chiefly with insignificant detail

2. archaic a schoolmaster or teacher

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Other Word Forms

• pedantesque adjective
• pedanthood noun

Etymology

Origin of pedant

First recorded in 1580–90; from Italian pedante “teacher, pedant”; apparently akin to pedagogue; -ant

Example Sentences

In order to put the pedant on permanent display, the museum had to pay a reward to the metal detectorist who made the discovery and the owner of the land it was found on.

From BBC • Feb. 9, 2026

Poor Sheila, stuck next to this humorless pedant.

From New York Times • Mar. 5, 2023

As any pedant will tell you, May is not technically summer.

From Washington Post • Apr. 29, 2022

“If you think of yourself as something very special, you’ll end up a pedant and a bore.”

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 30, 2020

A sort of intellectual warmth, the joy of the pedant who has found out some useless fact, shone through the dirt and scrubby hair.

From "1984" by George Orwell