didactic

adjective di·dac·tic \ dī-ˈdak-tik , də- \

Definition of didactic

1 a : designed or intended to teach

b : intended to convey instruction and information as well as pleasure and entertainment

didactic poetry

2 : making moral observations

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didactical

play \-ti-kəl\ adjective

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didactically

play \-ti-k(ə-)lē\ adverb

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didacticism

play \-tə-ˌsi-zəm\ noun

See didactic defined for English-language learners

See didactic defined for kids

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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 of didactic from the Web

This is where the design team — including Katherine Freer (projections), Maruti Evans (set and lights) and Luqman Brown (sound) — is most crucial, theatricalizing the didactic.

— laura collins-hughes, New York Times, "Review: ‘The Peculiar Patriot’ Puts Iron Bars Between Best Friends," 18 Sep. 2017
If someone wrote these events into a novel, literary critics would call the plot excessively didactic.

— leon neyfakh, Slate Magazine, "What the response to a police shooting sounds like when a black cop kills a white woman.," 24 July 2017
But the wall text, overly didactic, has the effect of holding the subject at arm’s length.

— laura jacobs, WSJ, "‘Items: Is Fashion Modern?’ Review: A Sociology Class on Iconic Items," 16 Oct. 2017
The movie doesn't feel didactic in its message, though—the style is so overwhelming that the message becomes interwoven with a complex attitude about fascist decadence.

— ben sachs, Chicago Reader, "Film / Foreign / Politics In praise of The Conformist, one of the greatest-looking movies ever made," 13 Oct. 2017
Unfortunately, some of the singing parts were dull, in that didactic, declamatory manner which has so often sunken American operas.

— phillip larrimore, charlotteobserver, "Opera Carolina doing contemporary ‘Cyrano’ is a bold step. Can it grow?," 4 Nov. 2017
One caveat: The tracks included aren’t the original studio recordings, which, to this ear, still sound constricted, self-conscious and didactic.

— jim farber, Newsweek, "Born-Again Bob Dylan Reconsidered: Live Recordings of His Gospel Songs Will Convert You," 31 Oct. 2017
These writers also searched for new didactic methods, Soyer by using the epistolary form made popular through Samuel Richardson’s 1740 novel Pamela, and Winsnes with a systematic progression from porridge and bread to more complicated dishes.

— henry notaker, The Atlantic, "A 600-Year History of Cookbooks as Status Symbols," 27 Oct. 2017
What’s remarkable is how Uhry folds all this social upheaval into the play without ever getting preachy or didactic.

— robert w. butler, kansascity, "Take a memorable and moving ride with ‘Driving Miss Daisy’," 6 Oct. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'didactic.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

We Will Teach You the Origin of didactic

Didaktikos is a Greek word that means "apt at teaching." It comes from didaskein, meaning "to teach." Something "didactic" does just that: 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 "didactic" is often overburdened with instruction to the point of being dull. Or it might be pompously instructive or moralistic.

Origin and Etymology of didactic

Greek didaktikos, from didaskein to teach

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1658

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

DIDACTIC Defined for English Language Learners

didactic

adjective

Definition of didactic for English Language Learners

: designed or intended to teach people something
—used to describe someone or something that tries to teach something (such as proper or moral behavior) in a way that is annoying or unwanted