pedant

noun ped·ant \ ˈpe-dᵊnt \

Definition of pedant

1 obsolete : a male schoolteacher

2 a : one who makes a show of knowledge

b : one who is unimaginative or who unduly emphasizes minutiae in the presentation or use of knowledge

c : a formalist or precisionist in teaching

See pedant defined for English-language learners

See pedant defined for kids

Examples of pedant in a Sentence

All too often, science fiction provokes the pedant in professional scientists, for whom a beautiful story can be ruined by a single petty error. —Jerry A. Coyne, New York Times Book Review, 10 Oct. 1999
A controversialist, crusty, critical, arrogant, a pedant, he was attacked by his contemporaries for sacrilege, impudence, temerity and presumption—among other imperfections. —Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World, 1996
This pioneer of the Age of the Sea, who deserves fame as an opener of the modern mind, has been caught in the cross fire of chauvinists, pedants, and ignorant but enthusiastic men of letters. —Daniel J. Boorstin, The Discoverers, 1983
A zealous pedant, Flaubert defended the accuracy of his historical novels with wearisome tenacity, as if accuracy could compensate for their lack of lived experience. —James Atlas, New York Times Book Review, 17 Oct. 1982

Recent Examples of pedant from the Web

Sorkin, that pedant, would cram a teachable moment into a commercial break if The Newsroom had any.

— jeff bercovici, Esquire, "The The Newsroom Recap: The Mistake," 15 July 2012
And, not to be a pedant, but there was holy hell to pay in upstate New York between the farmers and the speculative class down in New York, who pretty much ran things in Albany.

— charles p. pierce, Esquire, "Our Mr. Brooks Hops Aboard History's New Bullet Train," 29 May 2012
Rather than pin the butterfly of English to the specimen board, Stamper presents the language in its natural habitat, full of contradictions, breaking the hearts of pedants everywhere.

— jenni laidman, chicagotribune.com, "'Word by Word' leads this week's audiobook roundup," 2 May 2017
Pedants will quibble that the book is built on individual themes that others have looked at more deeply.

— The Economist, "A new way to workWhat will business technology look like tomorrow?," 13 July 2017
Football fans are well versed in Michy Batshuayi's pedant for being a social media fiend.

— SI.com, "PHOTO: Diego Costa Leaves Michy Batshuayi & Chelsea Fans Confused Over Baffling Instagram Comment," 10 Oct. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'pedant.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.