A.Word.A.Day --pedantic

A.Word.A.Day

About | Media | Search | Contact

Home

Today's Word

Archives

Aug 2, 2019

This week’s theme
Powered by kids

This week’s words
hypocoristic
filiation
teknonymy
puerperal
pedantic

“Speed limit 15 miles. No cut-outs in village limits”
A historic New Hampshire speed limit sign

Would it be pedantic to point out that without specifying the time, the sign is meaningless. 15 miles per hour, per minute, ... per week?

Photo: Wikimedia

This week’s comments
AWADmail 892

Next week’s theme
Words borrowed (adopted) from other languages

A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

pedantic

PRONUNCIATION:

(puh-DAN-tik)

MEANING:

adjective: Characterized by an excessive, narrow adherence to rules without practical judgment.

ETYMOLOGY:

From French pédant or Italian pedante, perhaps from Latin paedagogare (to teach). Earliest documented use: 1607.

USAGE:

“And another cleric, William Gilpin, the father of the Picturesque movement, drew up a list of pedantic instructions on how to view the landscape. He quickly became the subject of satire.”
The Heart with Pleasure Fills; The Economist (London, UK); Apr 3, 2010.

See more usage examples of pedantic in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

I love America more than any other country in this world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually. -James Baldwin, writer (2 Aug 1924-1987)

We need your help

Help us continue to spread the magic of words to readers everywhere

Donate

Subscriber Services
Awards | Stats | Links | Privacy Policy
Contribute | Advertise