If you say that someone is a pedant, you mean that they are too concerned with unimportant details or traditional rules, especially in connection with academic subjects.
[disapproval]
I am no pedant and avoid being dogmatic concerning English grammar and expression.
More Synonyms of pedant
pedant in British English
(ˈpɛdənt)
noun
1.
a person who relies too much on academic learning or who is concerned chiefly with insignificant detail
2. archaic
a schoolmaster or teacher
Word origin
C16: via Old French from Italian pedante teacher; perhaps related to Latin paedagōguspedagogue
pedant in American English
(ˈpɛdənt)
noun
1.
a person who puts unnecessary stress on minor or trivial points of learning, displaying a scholarship lacking in judgment or sense of proportion
2.
a narrow-minded teacher who insists on exact adherence to a set of arbitrary rules
3. Obsolete
a schoolmaster
Derived forms
pedantic (peˈdantic)
adjective
pedantically (peˈdantically)
adverb
Word origin
Fr pédant, pedant, schoolmaster < It pedante, ult. < Gr paidagōgos: see pedagogue
Synonyms of 'pedant'
hairsplitter, quibbler, doctrinaire, literalist
scholar, academic, intellectual, scholastic
More Synonyms of pedant
1 (noun)
Definition
a person who is concerned chiefly with insignificant detail or who relies too much on academic learning
We thought him a pedant and a bore.
Synonyms
hairsplitter
quibbler
doctrinaire
literalist
sophist
nit-picker (informal)
dogmatist
casuist
pettifogger
precisian
2 (noun)
Definition
a person who is concerned chiefly with insignificant detail or who relies too much on academic learning
a cloistered pedant deeply immersed in the past
Synonyms
scholar
The library attracts thousands of scholars and researchers.
academic
He is an academic who believes in winning through argument.
intellectual
teachers, artists and other intellectuals
scholastic
bookworm
egghead (informal)
pedagogue
My grandfather was a born pedagogue; it gave him great pleasure to impart information.
Additional synonyms
in the sense of academic
Definition
a member of the teaching or research staff of a college or university
He is an academic who believes in winning through argument.
Synonyms
scholar,
intellectual,
don,
student,
master,
professor,
fellow,
pupil,
lecturer,
tutor,
scholastic,
bookworm,
man or woman of letters,
egghead (informal),
savant,
academician,
acca (Australian, slang),
bluestocking (derogatory),
schoolman (US, rare, old-fashioned)
in the sense of intellectual
Definition
a person who has a highly developed intellect
teachers, artists and other intellectuals
Synonyms
academic,
expert,
genius,
thinker,
master,
brain (informal),
mastermind,
maestro,
boffin (British, informal),
highbrow,
rocket scientist (informal),
egghead (informal),
brainbox,
bluestocking (derogatory),
pointy-head (informal, US),
master-hand,
fundi (South Africa),
acca (Australian, slang)
in the sense of pedagogue
Definition
a teacher, esp. a pedantic one
My grandfather was a born pedagogue; it gave him great pleasure to impart information.