pedant
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pedant
- /ˈpɛdənt/
Where it comes from
From Middle French pedant, pedante, from Italian pedante (“a teacher, schoolmaster, pedant”), associated with unrelated Italian pedagogo (“teacher, pedagogue”). Compare French pédant.
noun pedants · pædant
- A person who makes an excessive or tedious show of their knowledge, especially regarding rules of vocabulary and grammar.
- A person who is overly concerned with formal rules and trivial points of learning.
- A teacher or schoolmaster. I have in my youth oftentimes beene vexed to see a Pedant [tr. pedante] brought in, in most of Italian comedies, for a vice or sport-maker, and the nicke-name of Magister to be of no better signification amongst us.
Similar: nitpicker, pedant, pettifogger, priss, smart aleck, smartass, wiseass, wise guy · Opposite: maverick
adjective pædant
- Pedantic.
verb pedants · pedanting · pedanted · pædant
-
To be or act as a pedant.
[…] as any occasion of going behond^([sic – meaning beyond]) the sea with sombody, or pedanting in some Gentlemans house, &c., for clergy-employment I will accept of none.
Similar: pedanticize, pedantize
Thesaurus
noun
Similar: nitpicker, pedant, pettifogger, priss, smart aleck, smartass, wiseass, wise guy · Opposite: maverick
Translations
Every language
noun person who emphasizes their knowledge through strict adherence to rules of vocabulary and grammar
| Português | pedante |
|---|---|
| Français | pédant, pédante |
| Italiano | cervellone, cervellona |
| Ελληνικά | δοκησίσοφος dokisísofos |
| العربية | مُتَشَدِّق mutašaddiq |
noun person overly concerned with formal rules and trivial points of learning
| Español | pedante |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 공론가 gongnon'ga |
| 日本語 | 衒学者 gengakusha |
| 中文 | 夫子 fūzǐ, 老學究 /老学究 lǎoxuéjiū, 學究 /学究 xuéjiū |
| Português | pedante |
| Français | pédant, pédante |
| Deutsch | Pedant, Pedantin |
| Italiano | pedante |
| Ελληνικά | σχολαστικός scholastikós |
| Русский | педа́нт pedánt, педа́нтка pedántka |
| العربية | مُتَحَذْلِق mutaḥaḏliq |
| עברית | דַּקְדְּקָן dakd'kán |
Talk about this word "pedant." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/pedant. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. pedant. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/pedant "pedant." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/pedant.Cite this
@misc{pedant_2026,
title = {pedant},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/pedant},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
