pedant

Meanings

Plural: pedants

Noun

a person who pays more attention to formal rules and book learning than they merit
A person who makes an excessive or tedious show of their knowledge, especially regarding rules of vocabulary and grammar.
A person who is overly concerned with formal rules and trivial points of learning.
A teacher or schoolmaster.

Adj

Pedantic.

Verb

To be or act as a pedant.

Origin / Etymology

From Middle French pedant, pedante, from Italian pedante (“a teacher, schoolmaster, pedant”), associated with unrelated Italian pedagogo (“teacher, pedagogue”). Compare French pédant.

Synonyms

bookworm, nitpicker, pedant, pettifogger, priss, scholastic, smart aleck, smartass, wise guy, wiseass

Antonyms

maverick

Scrabble Score: 9

pedant is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
pedant is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
pedant is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 11

pedant is a valid Words With Friends word