n. 1 a person who insists on strict adherence to formal rules or literal meaning at the expense of a wider view. 2 a person who rates academic learning or technical knowledge above everything. 3 a person who is obsessed by a theory; a doctrinaire. pedantic adj. pedantically adv. pedantize v.intr. & tr. (also -ise). pedantry n. (pl. -ies).
[ F pédant f. It. pedante: app. formed as PEDAGOGUE ]