pedantic

WOTD – 31 March 2006    

English

Alternative forms

• pedantick (obsolete)

Etymology

From pedant +‎ -ic.

Pronunciation

• enPR: pa-dăn'tĭk, IPA: /pəˈdæn.tɪk/, X-SAMPA: /p@"d{ntIk/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æntɪk

Adjective

pedantic (comparative more pedantic, superlative most pedantic)

1. Like a pedant, overly concerned with formal rules and trivial points of learning.
2. Being showy of one’s knowledge, often in a boring manner.
3. Being finicky or fastidious, especially with language.

Related terms

• pedant
• pedantry

Synonyms

• (like a pedant): (informal, derogatory) anal-retentive, fussy, nit-picky
• (knowledge-peacock): (sometimes applicable) nit-picky, ostentatious, pedagogical, pretentious
• (linguistically affected): fussy, nit-picky
• See also Wikisaurus:fastidious

Translations

like a pedant

• Czech: pedantský (cs) f, pedantický (cs) m
• Finnish: pedanttinen (fi), pikkumainen (fi), pikkutarkka (fi)
• French: méticuleux (fr)

• Greek: σχολαστικός (el) (scholastikós)
• Japanese: 杓子定規 (ja) (しゃくしじょうぎ, shakushi jyogi)
• Romanian: meticulos (ro), pedant (ro)

being showy of one's knowledge

• Finnish: pedanttinen (fi), rikkiviisas (fi)
• French: pédant (fr)

• Japanese: 学者ぶった (ja) (がくしゃぶった, gakusha butta)

being finicky with language

• Czech: pedantský (cs) f, pedantický (cs) m, slovíčkářský (cs) m
• Finnish: pedanttinen (fi), sanatarkka (fi), kirjaimellinen (fi)

• French: pointilleux (fr)
• Greek: σχολαστικός (el) (scholastikós)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Mandarin: 賣弄學問的;炫學者
• Estonian: pedantne
• French: pédant m, pédante f
• German: pedantisch

• Korean: 현학적인
• Romanian: pedant
• Serbo-Croatian: pèdantan (sh), пѐдантан (sh)
• Spanish: cursi, maniático, pedante, puntilloso
• Swedish: pedantisk

External links

• pedantic in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• pedantic at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• pentadic

 dentapic