pedantic

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The critic James Wood decried Mr. Barnes as “a thoroughly English writer,” meaning that he is clever and pedantic and emotionally repressed.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 16, 2026

And the percentage of gold in the portfolio is always fixed at 1/7 — or, if you are pedantic, 14.29%.

From MarketWatch • Oct. 9, 2025

Nelis renders the professor a pompous and pedantic twit but not a heartless one.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 19, 2025

It's told in a joke, so it makes the point without being pedantic about it or anything like that.

From Salon • Mar. 27, 2024

Anyone who’s so petty and pedantic at the age of fifty-four was born that way and is never going to change.

From "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank