as in teacher
disapproving
a person who annoys other people by correcting small errors and giving too much attention to minor details
They found the professor to be a dull pedant more concerned with the intricacies of punctuation than the craft of writing.
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Recent Examples of pedant
True, big global history is not for pedants and must be selective to remain accessible.
—
Walter Scheidel, Foreign Affairs, 19 Apr. 2022
Incidentally, for the pedants out there (WIRED salutes you), technically this is not a jet ski, but a personal watercraft, or PWC.
—WIRED, 18 Nov. 2023
As knowledge of Greek has become more exotic—the mark of pedants, nerds, and graduates of expensive schools—capturing the barbarism of ancient Greek, and of the ancient Greeks themselves, has become harder.
—Graeme Wood, The Atlantic, 2 Oct. 2023
Want to annoy an investing pedant?
—Spencer Jakab, WSJ, 13 Feb. 2023
The highest-energy moment comes when Rob Brydon and David Mitchell have a pedant off about Jeremy Clarkson’s firing.
—Bethy Squires, Vulture, 1 Jan. 2022
While its sister show Jeopardy is better known as a pedant's paradise (misspeaking or misspelling has long been known to sink contestants), every now and then Wheel of Fortune gets in on the action.
—Tyler Aquilina, EW.com, 1 Apr. 2021
Walter Scheidel, Foreign Affairs, 19 Apr. 2022
Incidentally, for the pedants out there (WIRED salutes you), technically this is not a jet ski, but a personal watercraft, or PWC.
—WIRED, 18 Nov. 2023
As knowledge of Greek has become more exotic—the mark of pedants, nerds, and graduates of expensive schools—capturing the barbarism of ancient Greek, and of the ancient Greeks themselves, has become harder.
—Graeme Wood, The Atlantic, 2 Oct. 2023
Want to annoy an investing pedant?
—Spencer Jakab, WSJ, 13 Feb. 2023
The highest-energy moment comes when Rob Brydon and David Mitchell have a pedant off about Jeremy Clarkson’s firing.
—Bethy Squires, Vulture, 1 Jan. 2022
While its sister show Jeopardy is better known as a pedant's paradise (misspeaking or misspelling has long been known to sink contestants), every now and then Wheel of Fortune gets in on the action.
—Tyler Aquilina, EW.com, 1 Apr. 2021
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pedant
Noun
-
Roy Taylor, a vocational agriculture teacher, succeeded Daugherty as field manager in 1951.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
26 July 2025
-
Data available from the Census for three of the grant programs — teacher development, academic enrichment, and bilingual education — shows the Los Angeles Unified School District, for example, received $62 million in the 2022-23 school year.—
Collin Binkley,
Chicago Tribune,
25 July 2025
Noun
-
Learn from three expert instructors how to showcase your skills, build a stellar reputation, and create a digital presence that AI can’t replicate.—
Renée Onque,
CNBC,
26 July 2025
-
Align leggings, which both moms and yoga instructors wear, are even included in the sale.—
Nicol Natale,
People.com,
26 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Pedant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pedant. Accessed 29 Jul. 2025.
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