Dictionary

pedantry en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (South-Africa) audio
• /ˈpɛd.ən.tɹi/ (UK, US)

Etymology

From Italian pedanteria, equivalent to pedant + -ry. Compare also French pédanterie.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) An excessive attention to detail or rules.
   • They had heard people call things pedantic, which they did not think were so ; for instance, a boy had once said that Harry himself was a pedant, for talking of the siege of Syracuse, and of the machines used there, because the boy knew nothing about them, and disliked reading. "Then you perceive," said his mother, "that the meaning of the word varies with the different degrees of knowledge of those who use it. I remember when it was thought pedantic for a woman to talk of some books, which are now the subject of common conversation. Sometimes old-fashioned learning, and sometimes useless learning, is called pedantry; and it is generally thought pedantic to produce any kind of learning that is so unusual, that it is not likely that the company is acquainted with it, or can be pleased by it. In short, pedantry may be said to be an ill-timed parade of knowledge." 1825, "Works" by Maria Edgeworth page 150
   • Another point on which Smart insists is the distinction between serf and surf […] A distinction can of course be made, and without much difficulty, by those who think of it, and is made by those who have formed a habit of doing so; but the distinction is so rarely made as to amount almost to pedantry […] 1869, Alexander John Ellis, “III. On the Pronunciation of English in the Sixteenth Century, and its Gradual Change during the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries”, in On Early English Pronunciation, with Especial Reference to Shakespeare and Chaucer […] , volume I, London: Published for the Philological Society by Asher & Co., page 202:
2. (countable, uncountable) An excessive attention to detail or rules. ▸ An instance of such behaviour.
   • [T]he southern court of the ballium had become a flower-garden, with quaint terraces, statues, knots of flowers, clipped yews and hollies, and all the pedantries of the topiarian art. 1855, Charles Kingsley, “The True and Tragical History of Mr. John Oxenham of Plymouth”, in Westward Ho!: Or, The Voyages and Adventures of Sir Amyas Leigh, Knight, […], volume I, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Macmillan & Co., →OCLC, page 209:
   • I don’t want to listen to your pedantries anymore.
3. (countable, uncountable) An overly ambitious display of learning.

Forms

Relateds

pedantocracy · pedantic · pedant

Synonyms

pedanticness · pedanticalness

Translations (38)

de Pedanterie (excessive attention to detail or rules) · da pedanteri (excessive attention to detail or rules) · fi pikkutarkkuus (excessive attention to detail or rules) · fi viisastelu (instance of being pedantic) · he דקדוקי עניות (overly ambitious display of learning) · nl betweterigheid (excessive attention to detail or rules) · es pedantería (instance of being pedantic) · fi saivartelu (instance of being pedantic) · de Pedanterie (overly ambitious display of learning) · is smámunasemi (excessive attention to detail or rules) · pt pedantismo (excessive attention to detail or rules) · fr pédanterie (instance of being pedantic) · is smásmygli (instance of being pedantic) · nl frikkerigheid (excessive attention to detail or rules) · is smásmygli (excessive attention to detail or rules) · sv pedanteri (excessive attention to detail or rules) · es pedantería (overly ambitious display of learning) · nl pedanterie (overly ambitious display of learning) · fi saivartelu (excessive attention to detail or rules) · bg педантизъм (excessive attention to detail or rules) · ca pedanteria (instance of being pedantic) · fr pédanterie (overly ambitious display of learning) · pt pedantice (instance of being pedantic) · ko 현학 (overly ambitious display of learning) · fi viisastelu (overly ambitious display of learning) · pt pedantismo (overly ambitious display of learning) · ca pedanteria (excessive attention to detail or rules) · is smámunasemi (instance of being pedantic) · fi rikkiviisaus (overly ambitious display of learning) · hu pedantéria (excessive attention to detail or rules) · ru педанти́чность (excessive attention to detail or rules) · fi pedanttisuus (excessive attention to detail or rules) · fr pédantisme (excessive attention to detail or rules) · el σχολαστικότητα (excessive attention to detail or rules) · pl pedanteria (excessive attention to detail or rules) · el δοκησισοφία (overly ambitious display of learning) · it pedantismo (excessive attention to detail or rules) · ru педанти́зм (excessive attention to detail or rules)