pedantic

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The hatred of the pedantic is the characteristic sentiment of the time.

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Definitions (4)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. adjective Characterized by a narrow, often ostentatious concern for book learning and formal rules: a pedantic attention to details.
  2. Syntax Note
    Synonyms: pedantic, academic, bookish, donnish, scholastic
    These adjectives mean marked by a narrow, often tiresome focus on or display of learning and especially its trivial aspects: a pedantic writing style; an academic insistence on precision; a bookish vocabulary; donnish refinement of speech; scholastic and excessively subtle reasoning.

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Examples

  • In fact the learning of which they were proud was knowledge of the body of tradition on whose sanctity they insisted; their teaching was scholastic and pedantic, an endless citing of precedents and discussion of trifles. —  The Life of Jesus of Nazareth
  • The writing is seldom pedantic, the enthusiasm heartfelt, and the critical standards high. —  Asimov's Science Fiction
  • The hatred of the pedantic is the characteristic sentiment of the time. —  English Literature and Society in the Eighteenth Century
  • -- pedantic, please don't worry too much about making your package pedantic-clean unless the tags really seem like a good idea. —  Planet Debian
  • "He is plain, pedantic, and poor!" —  The Curse of the Pharaohs
 

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Pedantic has been looked up 1721 times, favorited 6 times, listed 143 times, and commented on 9 times.

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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

pompous ·  tiresome ·  narrow-minded ·  frivolous ·  stilted ·  boastful ·  absurd ·  trivial ·  ludicrous ·  dogmatic ·  whimsical ·  puerile
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (1)

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. from pedant + -ic. Cf. D. G. pedantisch = Swedish Danish pedantisk.
 

Pronunciations
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/pəˈdæntɪk/
by American Heritage

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