pedant

noun

Definition of pedantnext
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

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of pedant 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 Avery, the heroine of Anika Jade Levy’s debut novel, Flat Earth (Catapult, $26), spends many turgid nights with a pedant. — Dan Piepenbring, Harpers Magazine, 23 Nov. 2025 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 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 See All Example Sentences for pedant
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pedant
teacher
Noun
  • One thing teachers seem to agree on is a return to pen and paper.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 1 July 2026
  • That proposal drew opposition from unions and associations representing teachers and school employees.
    — Stephen Hobbs, Sacbee.com, 30 June 2026
Definition of teacher

Browse Nearby Words

pedagogy
pedant
pedantic
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Cite this Entry

“Pedant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pedant. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on pedant

Nglish: Translation of pedant for Spanish Speakers

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