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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Recent Examples of pedant
The profile of the pedant has changed surprisingly across time periods and cultures, but what’s constant is that nobody wants to be called one.
—
The New York Review of Books, 25 Apr. 2026
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 botanists and pedants will tell you, figs are technically a flower, not a fruit.
—Emily Saladino, Bon Appetit Magazine, 20 Sep. 2025
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
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
Want to annoy an investing pedant?
—Spencer Jakab, WSJ, 13 Feb. 2023
True, big global history is not for pedants and must be selective to remain accessible.
—Walter Scheidel, Foreign Affairs, 19 Apr. 2022
The highest-energy moment comes when Rob Brydon and David Mitchell have a pedant off about Jeremy Clarkson’s firing.
—Bethy Squires, Vulture, 1 Jan. 2022
The New York Review of Books, 25 Apr. 2026
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 botanists and pedants will tell you, figs are technically a flower, not a fruit.
—Emily Saladino, Bon Appetit Magazine, 20 Sep. 2025
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
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
Want to annoy an investing pedant?
—Spencer Jakab, WSJ, 13 Feb. 2023
True, big global history is not for pedants and must be selective to remain accessible.
—Walter Scheidel, Foreign Affairs, 19 Apr. 2022
The highest-energy moment comes when Rob Brydon and David Mitchell have a pedant off about Jeremy Clarkson’s firing.
—Bethy Squires, Vulture, 1 Jan. 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pedant
teacher
Noun
-
The Kaukauna Area School District released a statement on Monday saying it had been made aware of the post and that Meyer, who has worked as a teacher in the district for more than 20 years, had been placed on administrative leave.—
Landon Mion,
FOXNews.com,
28 Apr. 2026
-
Mata and other teachers said Soliz was unable to answer questions about how the chart was created, including grade levels and how many students were included in the data.—
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
28 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Pedant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pedant. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
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