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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Example Sentences
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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
This Jet Ski Is Not a Jet Ski 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
View More 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
In a one-off release, Tiffany & Co. has transformed a CryptoPunks NFT (#3167) into a rose gold-and-enamel pedant for its owner, the brand’s vice president Alexandre Arnault.
—Demetrius Simms, Robb Report, 8 Apr. 2022
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
WoodAllGood’s galaxy pedant is perfect for the person in your life who loves a necklace with a bit of shimmer and glow—and one that happens to reflect the stars and colors of the night sky.
—Fortune, 18 Nov. 2021
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
This Jet Ski Is Not a Jet Ski 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
View More 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
In a one-off release, Tiffany & Co. has transformed a CryptoPunks NFT (#3167) into a rose gold-and-enamel pedant for its owner, the brand’s vice president Alexandre Arnault.
—Demetrius Simms, Robb Report, 8 Apr. 2022
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
WoodAllGood’s galaxy pedant is perfect for the person in your life who loves a necklace with a bit of shimmer and glow—and one that happens to reflect the stars and colors of the night sky.
—Fortune, 18 Nov. 2021
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
Cite this Entry
“Pedant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pedant. Accessed 25 Apr. 2025.
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