ped|ant

ped|ant
ped|ant «PEHD uhnt», noun.
1. a person who displays his knowledge in an unnecessary or tiresome way or who puts great stress on minor points of learning. A pedant may make a show of knowledge without knowing how to use it well. »

A man who has been brought up among books, and is able to talk of nothing else, is…what we call a pedant (Joseph Addison).

2. a dull, narrow-minded teacher or scholar: »

He [James I] had the temper of a pedant; and with it a pedant's love of theories, and a pedant's inability to bring his theories into any relation with actual facts (Richard H. Green).

3. Obsolete. a schoolmaster; teacher.
[< Italian pedante, perhaps ultimately < Greek paideúein educate < paîs, paidós boy]

Useful english dictionary. 2012.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • ped|ant|ry — «PEHD uhn tree», noun, plural ries. 1. an unnecessary or tiresome display of knowledge: »At the risk of seeming to be pedantic about an art whose most despised enemy is pedantry, let s look briefly at some of the attributes of graphic humor… …   Useful english dictionary

  • ped|ant|ism — «PEHD uhn tihz uhm», noun. 1. = pedantry. (Cf. ↑pedantry) 2. = pedanticism. (Cf. ↑pedanticism) …   Useful english dictionary

  • ped|ant|ize — «PEHD uhn tyz», intransitive verb, ized, iz|ing. to play the pedant, display pedantry: »To vegetate and pedantize on the classics... (Saturday Review) …   Useful english dictionary

  • ped·ant — …   Useful english dictionary

  • Ant — Ant·a·buse; ant·ambulacral; ant·apex; ant·arc·ta·lian; ant·arctic; ant·arc·ti·ca; ant·arc·to·gae·an; ant; ant·bird; ant·echi·no·mys; ant·echi·nus; ant·ep·ir·rhe·ma; ant·er·gic; ant·he·li·on; ant·hill; ant·ing; ant·ler; ant·lered; ant·ler·ite;… …   English syllables

  • ant — abrad·ant; ador·ant; adul·ter·ant; ano·rex·i·ant; ant·ac·id; ant·werp; ap·pend·ant; as·cend·ant; as·sail·ant; as·sist·ant; at·tend·ant; beau·sé·ant; cau·ter·ant; cha·toy·ant; clair·voy·ant; com·bat·ant; com·plain·ant; con·tin·u·ant; de·fend·ant;… …   English syllables

  • pedant — ped·ant …   English syllables

  • pedantry — ped·ant·ry …   English syllables

  • pedantry — ped•ant•ry [[t]ˈpɛd n tri[/t]] n. pl. ped•ant•ries 1) the character, qualities, or practices of a pedant, esp. undue display of learning 2) slavish attention to formal rules or minute details 3) an instance of being pedantic • Etymology: 1575–85; …   From formal English to slang

  • pedant — ped|ant [ˈpednt] n [Date: 1500 1600; : French; Origin: pédant, from Italian pedante, perhaps from Latin paedagogus; PEDAGOGY] someone who pays too much attention to rules or to small unimportant details, especially someone who criticizes other… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”