pedantry

American  

[ped-n-tree] / ˈpɛd n tri /

noun

pedantries plural

1. the character, qualities, practices, etc., of a pedant, especially undue display of learning.

2. slavish attention to rules, details, etc.

3. an instance of being pedantic.

   the pedantries of modern criticism.

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pedantry British  

/ ˈpɛdəntrɪ /

noun

1. the habit or an instance of being a pedant, esp in the display of useless knowledge or minute observance of petty rules or details

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• pedantries
  plural

Etymology

Origin of pedantry

First recorded in 1575–85, pedantry is from the Italian word pedanteria. See pedant, -ry

Explanation

You know that person who is always interrupting other people, correcting their grammar or their facts? That's pedantry, or inappropriately showing off your knowledge. The noun pedantry refers to the behavior of a pedant, which comes from the French word pédant, meaning “schoolmaster.” While it is a schoolmaster's job to ensure that students learn, someone who is guilty of pedantry just seems to brag, using his or her knowledge to get attention or seem better educated than the people around him or her.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pedantry pedantries

Such pedantry is perhaps why Malaysian durians have earned a special place on the Chinese table.

From BBC ● Jan. 10, 2026

Even now, lawmakers take this responsibility with a seriousness sometimes bordering on pedantry.

From New York Times ● Jan. 17, 2024

Jovin’s journey is narrated in brief vignettes that highlight her own dogged buoyancy and the competitive pedantry of the people she meets.

From Washington Post ● Jul. 26, 2022

The Big Day is technically Chance the Rapper’s debut album, although this designation is a farcical bit of marketing pedantry even by current standards.

From Slate ● Jul. 29, 2019

Winston Churchill did not, as legend has it, reply to an editor who had corrected his prose with “This is pedantry up with which I will not put.”

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker

He was an observational genius whose main talent was for exposure — exposure of the predictable opponent and exposure of pedantries, and he treated both as pretty much the same thing.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 13, 2022

There is a withering crossfire of pedantries in nearly all academic discussions of slavery and American blacks.

From Time Magazine Archive

Professional men disfigured the language by conventional pedantries; the finical courtier would prate “nothing but Chaucer.”

From Amenities of Literature Consisting of Sketches and Characters of English Literature by Disraeli, Isaac

But these may be dismissed as constitutional pedantries.

From Prime Ministers and Some Others A Book of Reminiscences by Russell, George William Erskine

Then he made a crooked face about his bed, while I laughed at him for his whims, his fancies, and his dogged pedantries.

From The Adventures of My Cousin Smooth by Templeton, Timothy