There is a word, which is I'm 99% sure of ancient Greek ancestry, which means something like 'pedantic' except that the person it is being used to describe is actually unknowingly ignorant about what he is being arrogantly pedantic about.

Example: I used the phrase 'leit motiv' in a letter-to-the-editor. He printed my letter but changed 'leit motiv' to 'leit motif'. 'motif' is in fact wrong, being French, whereas 'leit motiv' is clearly German, and 'motiv' is the correct spelling here.
I wrote the guy and told him a bit contemptuously that he had made a xxxxxxx, this being my lost word. Can soembody help me restore this useful word to my vocabulary?

Thank you