pedantry
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Italian pedanteria, equivalent to pedant + -ry. Compare also French pédanterie.
Pronunciation
Noun
pedantry (countable and uncountable, plural pedantries)
- An excessive attention to detail or rules.
- An instance of such behaviour.
- I don’t want to listen to your pedantries anymore.
- 1855, Charles Kingsley, “The True and Tragical History of Mr. John Oxenham of Plymouth”, in Westward Ho!: Or, The Voyages and Adventures of Sir Amyas Leigh, Knight, […], volume I, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Macmillan & Co., →OCLC, page 209:
- [T]he 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.
- An instance of such behaviour.
- An overly ambitious display of learning.
Quotations
- 1695, A Reply to the Second Defence of the XXVIII Propositions, Said to Be Wrote in Answer to a Socinian Manuscript, London, page 3:
- I am adviſed to paſs by whatever does not concern the Cauſe, to bear the Imputation of affected Pœdantry, Ignorance and Arrogance.
Synonyms
Related terms
Translations
excessive attention to detail or rules
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instance of being pedantic
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overly ambitious display of learning
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Further reading
- “pedantry”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “pedantry”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “pedantry”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
Categories:
- English terms borrowed from Italian
- English terms derived from Italian
- English terms suffixed with -ry
- English 3-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with quotations