Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Showing results for pedant. Search instead for pedants.
Synonyms

pedant

American  
[ped-nt] / ˈpɛd nt /

noun

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

  2. a person who overemphasizes rules or minor details.

    Synonyms:
    hairsplitter

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

  4. Obsolete. a schoolmaster.

pedant British  
/ ˈpɛdənt /

noun

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

  2. archaic a schoolmaster or teacher

"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

Other Word Forms

  • pedantesque adjective
  • pedanthood noun

Etymology

Origin of pedant

First recorded in 1580–90; from Italian pedante “teacher, pedant”; apparently akin to pedagogue; -ant

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.