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

In a novel full of insufferable characters interfering with romantic soulmates, Mary commits the sins of both pedantry and priggishness.

From Salon ● Jun. 25, 2026

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

From BBC ● Jan. 10, 2026

A windowless chamber is for dwelling on the consequences of your pedantry.

From New York Times ● Oct. 7, 2021

But today he would be expected to meet intellectual pedantry with populist theater.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 4, 2019

This logician would be unbearably pedantic, but there is a grain of good taste in the pedantry.

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

The book, too, has the blemishes of its own time; its want of simplicity, its inevitable though very often amusing and curious pedantries.

From Bacon by John Morley

It is a marvel of industry and accuracy,--the most elaborate of all his works, but probably the least read because of its enormous length and scholastic pedantries.

From Beacon Lights of History, Volume 13 Great Writers; Dr Lord's Uncompleted Plan, Supplemented with Essays by Emerson, Macaulay, Hedge, and Mercer Adam by John Lord

In short, among us lads, busy with books and full of admiration of our own cleverness, he was delightful; and among other ostentatious pedantries such as prevail at college his passed unrebuked.

From Lippincott's Magazine, Vol. 22, September, 1878 by Various