didactic

adjective

di·​dac·​tic dī-ˈdak-tik 

də-

1

a

: designed or intended to teach

The first part of the book is more didactic, with lengthy descriptions of how the operating system actually works.

—Richard C. Leinecker

b

: intended to convey instruction and information in addition to serving another purpose (such as pleasure and entertainment)

didactic poetry/fiction

Taking an enlightening new approach to Johnson's Dictionary, DeMaria examines the 16,000 illustrative citations and finds that they not only serve linguistic ends but have educational and didactic purposes.

—Robert B. Heilman

2

usually disapproving : making moral observations : intended to teach proper or moral behavior

Never didactic, Martin gently nudges readers toward open-mindedness at the prospect of eating bugs: "Why not make the best of what we have the most of?"

—Kirkus Reviews

Poe was in general not a didactic writer; in fact, he criticized stories and poems that sought to inculcate virtue and convey the truth.

—Paul Lewis

didactical

dī-ˈdak-ti-kəl 

adjective

didactically

dī-ˈdak-ti-k(ə-)lē 

adverb

didacticism

dī-ˈdak-tə-ˌsi-zəm 

noun

Did you know?

We Will Teach You the Origin of Didactic

Didaktikós is a Greek word that means "apt at teaching." It comes from didáskein, meaning "to teach." Something didactic does just that: it teaches or instructs. Didactic conveyed that neutral meaning when it was first borrowed in the 17th century, and still does; a didactic piece of writing is one that is meant to be instructive as well as artistic. Parables are generally didactic because they aim to teach a moral lesson. Didactic now sometimes has negative connotations, too, however. Something described as "didactic" is often overburdened with instruction to the point of being dull. Or it might be pompously instructive or moralistic.

Synonyms

• homiletic
• homiletical
• moralistic
• moralizing
• preachy
• sententious
• sermonic

Examples of didactic in a Sentence

Slaves related human as well as animal trickster tales; they told Bible stories, explanatory tales, moralistic and didactic tales, supernatural tales and legends. —Lawrence W. Levine, The Unpredictable Past, 1993

For two decades, many Americans, including some early advocates of the Vietnam intervention, have been relentlessly didactic, extracting cautionary lessons from Vietnam. —George F. Will, Newsweek, 22 May 1989

—the trappings, one might say—of a didactic and resolutely pious Victorian sensibility in the service of an anarchic imagination. —Joyce Carol Oates, The Profane Art, 1983

the poet's works became increasingly didactic after his religious conversion

Recent Examples on the Web

Neither didactic nor gratuitous, these questions are neatly streamed into the screenplay and will enhance the film’s appeal for many viewers. —Richard Kuipers, Variety, 29 Oct. 2024

Roots of the New York School: The Foundations of American Modernism is a madly didactic abstraction that looks further back in time to artists and collectors like Duchamp, Rothko, Betty Parsons, Peggy Guggenheim, and Lee Krasner. —Jerry Saltz, Vulture, 13 Nov. 2024

In Things to Come, shots of airplane squadrons over the white cliffs of Dover and superimpositions of soldiers marching through the English countryside were eccentric visions of pre-War British fears, perfecting what Wells had made overly didactic. —Armond White, National Review, 9 Oct. 2024

Overly didactic films or TV shows—those that hammer home the ‘right’ way to think or behave - will alienate audiences. —Solitaire Townsend, Forbes, 17 Sep. 2024

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from New Latin didacticus, borrowed from Greek didaktikós "apt at teaching," from didaktós "taught, learned" (verbal adjective of didáskein, aorist edídaxa "to teach, instruct," factitive derivative of daênai "to learn") + -ikos -ic entry 1; daênai going back to Indo-European *dens-, *dn̥s- "become knowledgeable or skillful," whence also Avestan dīdaiŋ́hē "(I) learn, experience" and, in nominal derivatives, Sanskrit dáṃsaḥ "marvelous power," dasráḥ "accomplishing wonderful deeds," and perhaps Greek dḗnea "plans, intentions"

First Known Use

1658, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

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Kids Definition

didactic

adjective

di·​dac·​tic dī-ˈdak-tik 

də-

: intended primarily to teach rather than to entertain

a didactic story with a moral lesson

didactical

-ti-kəl 

adjective

didactically

-ti-k(ə-)lē 

adverb

didacticism

-tə-ˌsiz-əm 

noun

Medical Definition

didactic

adjective

di·​dac·​tic dī-ˈdak-tik, də- 

: involving lecture and textbook instruction rather than demonstration and laboratory study