pedants

plural of pedant
as in teachers
disapproving a person who annoys other people by correcting small errors and giving too much attention to minor details They found the professor to be a dull pedant more concerned with the intricacies of punctuation than the craft of writing.

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of pedants Medieval schoolmen worrying over Aristotle could be pedants; so could cultivated female salonnières in seventeenth-century Paris. Clare Bucknell, The New York Review of Books, 25 Apr. 2026 As botanists and pedants will tell you, figs are technically a flower, not a fruit. Emily Saladino, Bon Appetit Magazine, 20 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pedants
teachers
Noun
  • Supporters of the change counter that the governor — who has to answer to a broad base of interests — would be less susceptible to education special interest groups, including teachers unions.
    Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times, 1 July 2026
  • Students submit their test scores, transcripts, a personal essay, two letters of recommendation from teachers and sit for an interview.
    Austin Horn July 1, Miami Herald, 1 July 2026

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“Pedants.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pedants. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

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