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
Not to get too pedantic about it, but her latest look presents a wonderful learning opportunity for those of us looking to ace the art of dressing for this suffocating heat.
—
Sam Reed, Glamour, 24 June 2025
In Strauss’s opinion, Oppenheimer’s increasing concerns about nuclear proliferation and radioactive wastes were pedantic, alarmist.
—Literary Hub, 11 June 2025
None of this is pedantic, nor is it puffed up with moral outrage.
—Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 11 June 2025
Newsweek Sports quoted Bruckheimer's statements, highlighting Hamilton's pedantic approach while filming.
—Josh Hammer, MSNBC Newsweek, 14 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pedantic
Sam Reed, Glamour, 24 June 2025
In Strauss’s opinion, Oppenheimer’s increasing concerns about nuclear proliferation and radioactive wastes were pedantic, alarmist.
—Literary Hub, 11 June 2025
None of this is pedantic, nor is it puffed up with moral outrage.
—Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 11 June 2025
Newsweek Sports quoted Bruckheimer's statements, highlighting Hamilton's pedantic approach while filming.
—Josh Hammer, MSNBC Newsweek, 14 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pedantic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pedantic
Adjective
-
The study, published on the open-access scholarly article archive, arxiv, has not yet been peer-reviewed.—
Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez,
Fortune,
22 Oct. 2025
-
Check back on the second Monday of every month for a new puzzle built on clues connected to scholarly articles available via JSTOR.—
JSTOR Daily,
JSTOR Daily,
14 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Despite looking like a fighter pilot who could win a game of dogfight football, Colin isn’t framed as a temptation for Marissa, and a lack of sexy secrets proves to be a recurring blind spot for the series, even if those two have plenty of other skeletons in their massive, boring closets.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
6 Nov. 2025
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All this after Fern just wanted to renovate her boring bookseller life by starting over next to her orc pal Viv’s coffee shop!—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
Trump’s tweets are just kind of semi-literate, but Vance can actually bite.—
Ethan Shanfeld,
Variety,
25 Oct. 2025
-
Right now, there’s a broad consensus that the global populist right understands our almost post-literate new media in a way their opponents never will.—
Ben Smith,
semafor.com,
20 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
As that number decreases, exercises such as running and cycling will feel more challenging and tiring, and your endurance may decline as well.—
Alyssa Ages,
Outside,
23 Oct. 2025
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But Braun was solid before tiring and working through injuries that affected him on the ball over the final month last season.—
Troy Renck,
Denver Post,
17 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Smith secures a dynasty On a team crowded with superstars, the cerebral catcher can go unnoticed.—
Chandler Rome,
New York Times,
2 Nov. 2025
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When Mercury and Uranus retrograde face off across the sky, the result is purely cerebral and quite electric.—
Valerie Mesa,
PEOPLE,
29 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Instead, watching Charles attempt to insert himself into the Garfield Administration by forging papers and sneaking into buildings feels repetitive and a bit dull.—
Aramide Tinubu,
Variety,
6 Nov. 2025
-
Their life in Watertown had been ordinary, maybe even dull sometimes.—
Jamie Thompson,
The Atlantic,
6 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
For the first time, a machine was able to do what only intelligent humans had previously done.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
4 Nov. 2025
-
Humans have a much larger neocortex than other animals, relative to body size, and the species with the largest neocortices—elephants, dolphins, gorillas, chimpanzees, dogs—are among the most intelligent.—
James Somers,
New Yorker,
3 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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Much of Iran’s clandestine cinema, including some of Panahi’s earlier works, is didactic, focused on valorizing the victims of the regime’s injustices.—
Arash Azizi,
The Atlantic,
22 Oct. 2025
-
It was considered immoral to lie and the whole point of writing things down back then was to increase morality and improve society, so there really is no didactic history of forgery.—
JSTOR Daily,
JSTOR Daily,
16 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Pedantic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pedantic. Accessed 9 Nov. 2025.
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