didactic

American  

[dahy-dak-tik] / daɪˈdæk tɪk /

Also didactical

adjective

1. intended for instruction; instructive.

   didactic poetry.

2. inclined to teach or lecture others too much.

   a boring, didactic speaker.

   Synonyms:

   pedagogical, donnish, preachy, pedantic

3. teaching or intending to teach a moral lesson.

4. (used with a singular verb) didactics, the art or science of teaching.

---

didactic British  

/ dɪˈdæktɪk /

adjective

1. intended to instruct, esp excessively

2. morally instructive; improving

3. (of works of art or literature) containing a political or moral message to which aesthetic considerations are subordinated

---

Other Word Forms

• didactically adverb
• didacticism noun
• nondidactic adjective
• nondidactically adverb
• undidactic adjective

Etymology

Origin of didactic

First recorded in 1635–45; from Greek didaktikós “apt at teaching, instructive,” from didakt(ós) “that may be taught, teachable” (from didáskein “to teach”) + -ikos -ic

Example Sentences

Other somewhat more didactic or exposition-heavy passages include a professor giving a brief lecture about the persistent and pernicious British class system.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 2, 2025

“Once you get didactic, that’s it. You’ve lost them.”

From Salon • Oct. 6, 2024

"I guess what the show is saying, and we're never didactic about this stuff, is that Pierpoint and the wider capitalist enterprise turbocharge some of their worst instincts," says Kay.

From BBC • Oct. 5, 2024

While we can and should learn from one another, our every interaction need not be so intensely didactic.

From New York Times • Mar. 30, 2024

Then he continued with his discussion in the same didactic tone as before.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela