SYNONYMS AND RELATED EXPRESSIONS
pedantry
noun
Excessive concern with minor rules or details, often as a display of learning.
Local English device voice, when available. This is not a recorded dictionary pronunciation.
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A useful distinction
Alternatives apply to the displayed meaning. Related wording may differ in tone or grammar and is not always interchangeable.
Excessive concern with minor rules or details, often as a display of learning
Closest synonyms
Related words and expressions
These extend or explain the idea and may require a different sentence structure.
Usage distinction
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RELATED FORMS, ONE FEATURED ENTRY
The pedantic family
pedantry is grouped under pedantic in the main dictionaries. This form keeps its meaning and previous study record.
pedanticadjective
Overly concerned with minor details, rules, or displaying learning.
Overly focused on minor correctness
Closest synonyms
Related expressions
The pedantic correction distracted from the main point of the discussion.
The discussion quickly turned pedantic as each participant tried to sound more learned than all the others.
CHECK THE MEANING IN CONTEXT
See pedantry in use
Useful precision became pedantry when he debated every comma.
Her correction clarified the text without descending into pedantry.
Compare an alternative with the original word in each passage. Shared meanings do not make every pair interchangeable.
Synonym reference scope and sources
The groups distinguish the senses selected for this study entry. Closest synonyms and broader related expressions have separate labels. The listed sources support lexical selection; not every phrase is a direct quotation from a source.
How the synonym reference was prepared / WordNet 3.0 license