pedant

[ ped-nt ]

/ ˈpɛd nt /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR pedant ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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

a person who overemphasizes rules or minor details.

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

Obsolete. a schoolmaster.

Words nearby pedant

pedal point, pedal pushers, pedal steel guitar, pedalfer, pedalo, pedant, pedantic, pedanticism, pedantry, pedate, pedatifid

Origin of pedant

1580–90; < Italian pedante teacher, pedant; apparently akin to pedagogue; see -ant

SYNONYMS FOR pedant

2 hairsplitter.

SEE SYNONYMS FOR pedant ON THESAURUS.COM

OTHER WORDS FROM pedant

ped·ant·esque, adjectiveped·ant·hood, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for pedant

Call me a Limbaugh pedant, but Rush is on in the afternoon; has been for 22 years.
Rush Limbaugh! The Musical|Rick Perlstein|February 3, 2010|DAILY BEAST
Only the pedant would disown so desirable a tenant for the poor reason that the house has been rebuilt since his day.
Our House|Elizabeth Robins Pennell
This would have satisfied the people, who were only anxious to score off the troublesome philosopher and pedant.
A Critical History of Greek Philosophy|W. T. Stace
Pedant′ic, -al, displaying knowledge for the sake of showing.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 3 of 4: N-R)|Various

And such is the advantage of a classical education, that he mumbled a line from a Greek pedant, another from a Roman bore.
A Transient Guest|Edgar Saltus
He is a pedant in show, though his title be tutor, and his pupils in a broader phrase are schoolboys.
Character Writings of the 17th Century|Various

British Dictionary definitions for pedant

pedant

/ (ˈpɛdənt) /

noun

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

archaic a schoolmaster or teacher

Word Origin for pedant

C16: via Old French from Italian pedante teacher; perhaps related to Latin paedagōgus pedagogue

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

pedant

noun

Words related to pedant

Words nearby pedant

Origin of pedant

SYNONYMS FOR pedant

OTHER WORDS FROM pedant

Examples from the Web for pedant

British Dictionary definitions for pedant

noun

Word Origin for pedant