pedant
UK: ˈped.ənt | US: ˈped.ənt
n. a person who is excessively concerned with minor details, rules, or formalisms, especially in learning or teaching.
n. (archaic) a schoolmaster or teacher.
The word entered English via 16th-century French pédant, from Italian pedante, initially meaning "teacher" but acquiring a negative connotation as "one who flaunts trivial knowledge." The Italian term likely blended Latin ped- (suggesting foundational learning, as in "pedagogy") with the Greek paideia ("education"), though its exact path is debated. Over time, "pedant" shifted from a neutral term for educators to a critique of rigid, showy scholarship.
The professor was dismissed as a pedant for obsessing over citation formats.
Modern audiences have little patience for literary pedants.
His pedantic corrections disrupted the meeting’s flow.
"Don’t be such a pedant," she sighed, as he debated comma usage.
Renaissance pedants prized memorization over critical thinking.