pedantic

adjective

Tending to show off one’s knowledge, often in a tiresome manner.

Being overly concerned with formal rules and trivial points of learning, like a pedant.

Roots

paideueinped- · Greek · to teach, educate a child -ans-ant · Latin · agent, one who -ikos-ic · Greek · pertaining to

Synonyms for pedantic

donnishadj dryasdust fastidiousadj precisian pretentiousadj fussyadj pompousadj punctiliousadj finickyadj academicadj highfalutinadj

Synonyms & related words for pedantic

Find synonyms, related words, and the definition of pedantic — including donnish, dryasdust, fastidious, precisian, pretentious, fussy. Dendril is a free visual thesaurus that shows them on an interactive map where stronger matches sit closer to the center — no signup, no ads.

Words related to pedantic

Explore words related to pedantic — words associated with it, words that go with it, and its nearest matches in meaning. Related words include pedanticism, pedant, pedantry, pedantically, persnickety, captiousness, nitpicker, nitpicking. Click any word to make it the center of the map and keep exploring the web of connections.

Synonyms for pedantic

Common synonyms for pedantic include donnish, dryasdust, fastidious, precisian, pretentious, fussy, pompous, punctilious — words that share a close meaning. Hover or tap any word on the map for its definition and part of speech.

Where does pedantic come from?

The word pedantic breaks down into 3 roots of Greek and Latin origin: ped, from Greek paideuein (“to teach, educate a child”); -ant, from Latin -ans (“agent, one who”); and -ic, from Greek -ikos (“pertaining to”). Explore each root to see other English words built from the same source.