pedantry

noun

ped·​ant·​ry ˈpe-dᵊn-trē How to pronounce pedantry (audio)
plural pedantries
1
: pedantic presentation or application of knowledge or learning
2
: an instance of pedantry

Examples of pedantry in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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.
Even within watch-collecting circles, the fandom expressed by devotees of Omega’s Speedmaster chronograph sets a high bar for both passion and pedantry. Chris Hall, WIRED, 10 Dec. 2024 Her disbelief at bureacratic pedantry reaches a fever pitch as her desperation increases, resulting in a scene reminiscent of Judy Hopps and Flash the Sloth at the DMV in Zootopia. Longreads, 11 Oct. 2024 The inflated pedantry of his style, all those technical-sounding terms and incantatory clauses in the service of a simple idea, seems practically comic, but Kushner presents it earnestly, without a hint of irony. Alexandra Schwartz, The New Yorker, 7 Oct. 2024 Effectively countering that technique probably requires some combination of quick thinking, verbal dexterity, brilliant stagecraft and (to avoid accusations of pedantry) humor. Lili Loofbourow, Washington Post, 28 June 2024 But pedantry and self-consciousness can wreck the pleasures of nostalgia. Thomas Mallon, The New Yorker, 20 Nov. 2023 As always in Davis’s fiction, an almost imperceptible line divides pedantry from precision, enthusiasm from solipsism. Merve Emre, The New Yorker, 1 Oct. 2023 Eventually, the adrenaline of breaking news gave way to a distaste for transactional back-scratching and pedantry of congressional procedure. Kara Voght, Washington Post, 4 May 2023 Collage: The Verge And yet, to point all this out seems like pedantry because the image undeniably looks real — for a certain definition of real, anyway. James Vincent, The Verge, 27 Mar. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1612, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of pedantry was in 1612

Dictionary Entries Near pedantry

Cite this Entry

“Pedantry.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pedantry. Accessed 22 Dec. 2024.

Kids Definition

pedantry

noun
ped·​ant·​ry ˈped-ᵊn-trē How to pronounce pedantry (audio)
plural pedantries
: dull and overly exact presentation of knowledge or learning

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