Definition of pedant Pedant

ped•ant

We found 8 definitions of pedant from 5 different sources.

What does pedant mean?

Noun Plural: pedants
pedant - a person who pays more attention to formal rules and book learning than they merit
		bookworm, scholastic
		bookman, scholarly person, student, scholar a learner who is enrolled in an educational institution

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pedant (Noun)
A teacher or schoolmaster.
pedant (Noun)
A person who is overly concerned with formal rules and trivial points of learning.
pedant (Noun)
A person who emphasizes his/her knowledge through the use of vocabulary.

pedant (n.)
A schoolmaster; a pedagogue.
pedant (n.)
One who puts on an air of learning; one who makes a vain display of learning; a pretender to superior knowledge.

pedant
ped′ant, n. one who makes a vain display of learning: a pretender to knowledge which he does not possess: (Shak.) a pedagogue.—adjs. Pedant′ic, -al, displaying knowledge for the sake of showing.—adv. Pedant′ically, in a pedantic manner.—ns. Pedant′icism, Ped′antism.—v.i. Ped′antise, to play the pedant.—ns. Pedantoc′racy, government by pedants; Ped′antry, acts, manners, or character of a pedant: vain display of learning: (Swift) the overrating of any kind of knowledge we pretend to. [Fr.,—It. pedante—L. pædagogans, -antis, teaching—pædagogus, a pedagogue.]