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  1. pedantic love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. adj. Characterized by a narrow, often ostentatious concern for book learning and formal rules: a pedantic attention to details.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of a pedant or pedantry; overrating the importance of mere learning; also, making an undue or inappropriate display of learning; of language, style, etc., exhibiting pedantry; absurdly learned: as, a pedantic air.

Wiktionary

  1. adj. Like a pedant, overly concerned with formal rules and trivial points of learning.
  2. adj. Being showy of one’s knowledge, often in a boring manner.
  3. adj. Being finicky or fastidious, especially with language.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. adj. Of or pertaining to a pedant; characteristic of, or resembling, a pedant; ostentatious of learning

WordNet 3.0

  1. adj. marked by a narrow focus on or display of learning especially its trivial aspects

Etymologies

  1. From pedant +‎ -ic. (Wiktionary)

Examples

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Lists

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Comments

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  • kingparton There is nothing so pedantic as pretending not to be pedantic. No man can get above his pursuit in life: it is getting above himself, which is impossible.

    William Hazlitt, "On the Conversation of Authors" Nov 15, 2011

  • milosrdenstvi Don't forget the sour prentices. Aug 24, 2009

  • bilby "Sawcy pedantique wretch, goe chide Late schooleboyes."
    - John Donne, 'Sunne Rising'. Aug 24, 2009

  • sera "annoyingly proud of learning" Aug 13, 2007

  • billifer So, John, can I put the antic in pedantic? :-D Jan 5, 2007

  • kaichi Wordie apparently doesn't hold on to capitalizations. Jan 3, 2007

  • sonofgroucho Maybe being pedantic is not necessarily a bad thing? Pedantry has just had a bad press in the past. Dec 31, 2006

  • john Wordie is like the house that pedantry built. It's a machine for with which to be pedantic. It puts the ped in pedantry. Dec 31, 2006

  • inkhorn Example: "Well, Lois, since you asked, I find this meatloaf rather shallow and pedantic." Dec 13, 2006

  • tankexmortis Geez, none of you guys capitalized it even! Dec 3, 2006

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‘pedantic’ has been looked up 13633 times, loved by 36 people, added to 227 lists, commented on 10 times, and has a Scrabble score of 13.