pedantic

adjective

Definition of pedanticnext
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

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 pedantic Complaining that Seinfeld couldn't get made today is the kind of thing that the fictional Jerry Seinfeld would do, so at least the real-life Jerry Seinfeld is staying true to his pedantic on-screen persona. — Britt Hayes, Entertainment Weekly, 17 June 2026 Rice cleaners are pedantic and nitpicky. — Aksha Mittapalli, Better Homes & Gardens, 1 June 2026 Special shout-out to the writers’ room for giving us a high-tension cold open and then segueing immediately post-credits to the Titan equivalent of a family road trip where Mom and Dad are pedantic geniuses arguing over what route to take to the beach. — Sophie Brookover, Vulture, 22 May 2026 The problem with buying a striker from a team in Portugal is — to be a little pedantic — not that the Portuguese top flight is weak. — Michael Cox, New York Times, 4 Mar. 2026 See All Example Sentences for pedantic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pedantic
  1. scholarly
  2. boring
  3. literate
  4. tiring
  5. cerebral
  6. dull
  7. intelligent
  8. didactic
Adjective
  • If the source is a scholarly journal article, the article’s title appears in a larger font above the additional bibliographic information.
    — The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 9 Oct. 2026
  • Generating scholarly tomes at a rate of more than one a year involves obsessive amounts of research.
    — Sean Timberlake, Sacbee.com, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of scholarly
Adjective
  • Most impressive is its capacity to achieve the perfect balance between design and sophistication, without being uptight or boring.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 15 Oct. 2026
  • The game was pretty boring overall, and the Seahawks looked like the significantly better team.
    — OutKick, FOXNews.com, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of boring
Adjective
  • Highly literate working men and women were almost always in the vanguard of campaigns for social and democratic change.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 14 Oct. 2026
  • Not voting in Brazil incurs a small fine as participation is mandatory for literate citizens aged 18 to 70.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of literate
Adjective
  • Tommy Gemmell, advanced from left-back, provided the equaliser on 63 minutes and with Inter tiring and Celtic still pushing, Chalmers scored the famous winner with six minutes left.
    — Michael Walker, New York Times, 15 Oct. 2026
  • But after a while, the lack of grounding gets tiring, as various supernatural shenanigans appear to be determined more by plot convenience than anything else.
    — Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 9 Oct. 2026
Definition of tiring
Adjective
  • But Blade Runner isn’t just known for cerebral questions about existence and purpose, it’s also known for breaking visual ground.
    — Joshua Rivera, Vulture, 11 Oct. 2026
  • This becomes clear when, moving on from ephemera, the exhibit turns cerebral.
    — J. Hoberman, ARTnews.com, 9 Oct. 2026
Definition of cerebral
Adjective
  • Many of the strongest initial applications are the dull, dirty, and dangerous tasks that go unfilled, contribute to injuries, and pull people away from higher-value judgment and exception handling.
    — Navin Chaddha, Fortune, 16 Oct. 2026
  • But in the years between Logic1000’s in-your-face debut EP and 2024’s duller, more careful Mother, her solo work became less singular.
    — Cassidy Sollazzo, Pitchfork, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of dull
Adjective
  • In an age of intelligent machines, these may be our most essential skills.
    — Halla Tómasdóttir, Time, 16 Oct. 2026
  • Over time, intelligent model routing will make this optimization increasingly dynamic.
    — Pritam Debnath, Forbes.com, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of intelligent
Adjective
  • At times, the photographs have the glossy, didactic quality of the figures in a textbook.
    — Stephanie Wambugu, Vulture, 12 Oct. 2026
  • Their version is irreverent, but less conceptual and didactic about its sense of humor.
    — José Criales-Unzueta, Vanity Fair, 26 Sep. 2026
Definition of didactic

Browse Nearby Words

pedant
pedantic
pedantry
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Cite this Entry

“Pedantic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pedantic. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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