1
as in scholarly
marked by or given to showing knowledge in a showy way
The writing was overly complex and pedantic, which made it nearly impossible to understand for anyone but a specialist. The speech was thoroughly researched and well structured, but too pedantic to appeal to a general audience.
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2
as in boring
causing weariness or lack of interest
I found the author's writing informative but dreadfully pedantic.
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of pedantic
Nelis renders the professor a pompous and pedantic twit but not a heartless one.
—
Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 19 Mar. 2025
The inspiring leader is a big-picture optimist while the infuriating leader a pedantic pessimist.
—Rodger Dean Duncan, Forbes, 26 Feb. 2025
The point was not the pedantic collection of information.
—Sheila Heti, The New Yorker, 19 Jan. 2025
The primary impact was to tournament players and to the pedantic rule grammar police.
—Todd Boss, Forbes, 10 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pedantic
Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 19 Mar. 2025
The inspiring leader is a big-picture optimist while the infuriating leader a pedantic pessimist.
—Rodger Dean Duncan, Forbes, 26 Feb. 2025
The point was not the pedantic collection of information.
—Sheila Heti, The New Yorker, 19 Jan. 2025
The primary impact was to tournament players and to the pedantic rule grammar police.
—Todd Boss, Forbes, 10 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pedantic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pedantic
Adjective
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The Schomburg Center has long been the heart of Harlem’s ongoing Renaissance—from the 1920s until the present moment —the neighborhood teems with an energy of artistic and scholarly abundance that, in turn, shapes political and cultural discourse not just in New York City but across the country.—
Essence,
Essence,
19 June 2025
-
Much of the design was informed by a 25-page scholarly paper on how to govern such a city, written by a professor of sociology specifically for the show.—
Brande Victorian,
HollywoodReporter,
17 June 2025
Adjective
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This is worlds away from that boring deli chicken sandwich, while still being easy enough to whip up on the busiest of days.—
Kimberly Holland,
Southern Living,
28 June 2025
-
The contract’s scope of work includes the single bore tunnel, station entrances and exits, the excavation of underground stations and the procurement of a tunnel boring machine.—
Grace Hase,
Mercury News,
27 June 2025
Adjective
-
The comptroller added that some undocumented people in immigration court weren’t literate and did not have an advocate with them in court, such as a lawyer or translator.—
Lesley Cosme Torres,
People.com,
23 June 2025
-
Business leaders must shift their focus from simply acquiring AI tools to strategically embedding them within human-centric processes, ensuring that twice literate humans are in the loop, empowered and indispensable.—
Cornelia C. Walther,
Forbes.com,
12 June 2025
Adjective
-
Seeing that expansion and contraction over and over for six episodes (let alone three seasons) can grow tiring, and Season 3 certainly suffers from a sense of exhaustion.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
27 June 2025
-
Now in his 80s trips to the islands are more challenging, and maintaining a boat that can make the journey is expensive and tiring.—
Kathleen Rellihan,
Outside Online,
8 June 2025
Adjective
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Lucy’s colleagues refer to men like him—tall, handsome, in finance, intelligent, urbane—as unicorns.—
Katy Waldman,
New Yorker,
21 June 2025
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Celebrate intelligent risk-taking, not just polished outcomes.—
Bill Fischer,
Forbes.com,
21 June 2025
Adjective
-
And what often emerges instead is a dull kind of numbness, chronic irritability or total withdrawal.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
25 June 2025
-
Commercial or bulk matcha is often a dull yellowish or brown color, coarse in texture, and noticeably bitter.—
Devorah Lev-Tov,
Vogue,
20 June 2025
Adjective
-
But these cerebral dispatches realize their audience often experiences the work communally and tends to enjoy it most when accompanied by flowing synths and insistent drums.—
Craig Jenkins,
Vulture,
27 June 2025
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Expect subversion, something a little weird, traditional craft turned cerebral.—
Leah Dolan,
CNN Money,
25 June 2025
Adjective
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Nautilus is bold in its changes to Captain Nemo’s story — new monsters, new villains — but imitative to other genre series in execution, and the vibe is a little didactic.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
25 June 2025
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The film’s slavish dedication to its source material — the challenging of which would open its own can of worms — demands ignoring all potential complexity in favor of didactic conclusions.—
Siddhant Adlakha,
Variety,
19 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Pedantic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pedantic. Accessed 4 Jul. 2025.
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