different between pedantry vs pedantic

English

Etymology

pedant + -ry. From Middle French pedant, pedante, from Italian pedante (“a teacher, schoolmaster, pedant”), of uncertain origin, traced by some sources to Latin paedagogans, present participle of paedagogare ( = to teach, from Greek "paedagogein" = to instruct children ). Confer French pédanterie.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /?p?d.?n.t?i/

Noun

pedantry (countable and uncountable, plural pedantries)

1. An excessive attention to detail or rules.
   1. An instance of such behaviour.

      I don't want to listen to your pedantries anymore.

      • 1855, Charles Kingsley, Westward Ho! Chapter 7

        […] the 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.

2. An overly ambitious display of learning.

Related terms

• pedant
• pedantic
• pedantocracy

Translations

Further reading

• pedantry in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• pedantry in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• pedantry at OneLook Dictionary Search

English

Alternative forms

• pedantick (obsolete)

Etymology

From pedant +? -ic.

Pronunciation

• enPR: pa-d?n't?k, IPA^(key): /p??dæn.t?k/
• Rhymes: -ænt?k

Adjective

pedantic (comparative more pedantic, superlative most pedantic)

1. Like a pedant, overly concerned with formal rules and trivial points of learning.
2. Being showy of one’s knowledge, often in a boring manner.
3. Being finicky or fastidious, especially with language.

Synonyms

• (like a pedant): (informal, derogatory) anal-retentive, fussy, nit-picky
• (showy of one's knowledge): (sometimes applicable) nit-picky, ostentatious, pedagogical, pretentious
• (finicky with language): fussy, nit-picky, inkhorn
• See also Thesaurus:fastidious

Related terms

• pedant
• pedantry

Translations

Further reading

• pedantic in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• pedantic at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• depactin, pentacid, pentadic