pedantic

[ puh-dan-tik ]

adjective

1. ostentatious in one's learning.
2. overly concerned with minute details or formalisms, especially in teaching.

   Synonyms: doctrinaire, didactic

pedantic

/ pɪˈdæntɪk /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characterized by pedantry

Derived Forms

• peˈdantically, adverb

Other Words From

• pe·danti·cal·ly adverb
• pe·danti·cal·ness noun
• semi·pe·dantic adjective
• semi·pe·danti·cal adjective
• semi·pe·danti·cal·ly adverb
• unpe·dantic adjective
• unpe·danti·cal adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of pedantic¹

First recorded in 1590–1600; pedant + -ic

Example Sentences

From included streaming options to a few inches in diagonal length, shopping for a new TV can be a bit pedantic.

From Popular-Science

These details can sound pedantic, but they can make a huge difference in day-to-day use.

From Popular-Science

The pedantic scholars among us might wonder if the book does its job.

From The Daily Beast

The pedantic type might note that Hippolytus makes no prophetic mention of the cinema or the Internet.

From The Daily Beast

The drinks here, like the Blackwatch (with Johnny Walker Black, creme de cassis, and Becherovka), are far from pedantic.

From The Daily Beast

The problem was that Sorkin did too much (pedantic, predictable) telling and not enough showing.

From The Daily Beast

Her perfection can sometimes verge on pedantic, like with her conversion to veganism.

From The Daily Beast

Pedantic, unimaginative and presumptuous, Theobald was the logical choice for a Dunce King in 1728.

From Project Gutenberg

A pedantic fellow called for a bottle of hock at a tavern, which the waiter, not hearing distinctly, asked him to repeat.

From Project Gutenberg

He is no longer pedantic; he no longer makes vulgar allusions, but only fears that they might be made.

From Project Gutenberg

The ages in which they flourished attached no value to pedantic displays of learning paraded in foot-notes.

From Project Gutenberg

There was Sir James Smith, the botanist, made much of and really not pedantic and vulgar like the rest, but weak and irritable.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• abstruse
• pompous
• stilted