US /ˈpɛdənt/ UK /ˈpedənt/
noun

Meanings

  1. 1
    noun

    a person who is overly concerned with minor rules and details

    Only a pedant would object to splitting an infinitive.

Thesaurus

Synonyms
1 noun · a person who is overly... nitpickerprecisianquibblerdoctrinaireformalist
Word family

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French pedant, from Italian pedante ('teacher, schoolmaster'), of uncertain origin, possibly from the same Greek root as pedagogue (pais 'child').

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