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.
Related Words
Relevance
Example Sentences
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.
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
-
Even in the United States, his student turned assistant Henry LeTang became the tap teacher to hundreds, from starlets needing tailoring to the great Gregory Hines.—
Brian Seibert,
New Yorker,
13 May 2026
-
The bill, which was supported by nurses, teachers, construction workers and service employees in Connecticut, is one of the biggest victories for organized labor in the state in recent years.—
Andrew Brown,
Hartford Courant,
12 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Pedant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pedant. Accessed 17 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
