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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Recent Examples of pedantic
Hollingsworth can be pedantic at times, which is understandable given the massive volume of material needed to convey de’ Medici’s enormous influence over a relatively lengthy life.
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Dave Kindy, Washington Post, 10 July 2024
The fundamental test of taste is in Bodet’s realization of the potentially absurd anachronistic element—the lives and fortunes of Manet and Baudelaire in the age of the smartphone, a conceit that could easily have turned goofy or pedantic.
—Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 9 July 2024
Rita has a somewhat more codified and pedantic view of the divine — a view that blinds her to the simple beauties of the world.
—David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 26 June 2024
When even the manufacturers sell the stocks explicitly as implements to permit an automatic rate of fire, the majority justices are being willfully pedantic to contradict them and the federal agency charged with regulating firearms on a technicality.
—New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 17 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for pedantic 
Dave Kindy, Washington Post, 10 July 2024
The fundamental test of taste is in Bodet’s realization of the potentially absurd anachronistic element—the lives and fortunes of Manet and Baudelaire in the age of the smartphone, a conceit that could easily have turned goofy or pedantic.
—Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 9 July 2024
Rita has a somewhat more codified and pedantic view of the divine — a view that blinds her to the simple beauties of the world.
—David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 26 June 2024
When even the manufacturers sell the stocks explicitly as implements to permit an automatic rate of fire, the majority justices are being willfully pedantic to contradict them and the federal agency charged with regulating firearms on a technicality.
—New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 17 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for pedantic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pedantic
Adjective
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My scholarly research has identified emerging climate risk here due to the wide range of extreme weather events experienced and the number of vulnerable, less-resilient communities.Marshall Shepherd, Forbes, 2 Nov. 2024
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In the 1880s, in scholarly Cambridge, Massachusetts, a professed divinator has kept for years a large business-like and soberly worded advertisement of his services.The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 30 Oct. 2024
Adjective
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Most of this long flashback segment is pretty boring, though.Ben Rosenstock, Vulture, 11 Nov. 2024
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Toyota and Honda have at times been called boring: Honda by its own engineers, Toyota more famously by a chairman descended from the company’s founder.Robert Ferris, CNBC, 4 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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These entertaining performances would disseminate information about the gods to both literate and illiterate audiences all throughout China.Michael Naparstek, The Conversation, 23 Sep. 2024
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Logically literate people will know how to ask the right questions of their leaders, how to spot fallacies, and, crucially, how to make decisions that truly align with their values.Vinay K. Chaudhri, Scientific American, 5 Sep. 2024
Adjective
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Similarly, listening as a member of a large audience or having to listen for a long time was also tiring.Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi, Discover Magazine, 5 Nov. 2024
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Working while speaking was more annoying but less tiring than silence and noise.Dominique Fluker, Essence, 15 Oct. 2024
Adjective
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These group dynamics and cooperation efforts are part of what makes meerkats so intelligent.Allison Futterman, Discover Magazine, 6 Nov. 2024
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Companies are eager to tap into the productivity AI offers: ServiceNow, which provides end to-end intelligent workflow automation platform solutions for digital businesses has recently adopted AI agents, a move that has boosted subscription revenue by 23%.Nizan Geslevich Packin, Forbes, 5 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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Wella Color Fresh Mask in Rose Blaze and Overtone Rose Gold for Brown Hair Coloring Conditioner are both rosy pink shades designed to be used over brown hair and can be easily swapped out for your regular conditioner when your color starts looking dull.Sophia Panych, Allure, 2 Nov. 2024
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Browsing through the options online, she was disappointed by how dull and samey everything was.Simon Hill, WIRED, 31 Oct. 2024
Adjective
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While our understanding of the brain has (thankfully) developed greatly from the days of removing cerebral tissue to see what would happen, a precise understanding of where our memories reside—and how our brain recalls past experience—remains elusive.Tom Hawking, Popular Science, 6 Nov. 2024
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These complex responses engage a constellation of cerebral circuits that link brain and body.R Douglas Fields, WIRED, 29 Sep. 2024
Adjective
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But a lot of those gaps were actually intentional elisions, the result of Leone's broader stylistic conviction against didactic storytelling.Ryan Coleman, EW.com, 23 Oct. 2024
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In fact, an attempt to do that would just be didactic.Jen Chaney, Vulture, 1 July 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Pedantic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pedantic. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.
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