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

“One can read entire histories of American car culture and find no mention of Japanese or Asian American involvement,” Wang writes — but that’s about as pedantic as “Cruising J-Town” gets.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 30, 2025

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

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

I felt drawn by professionalism to the edge of sterility, capable of no more than pedantic, lifeless, unassailable prose.

From "Hunger of Memory" by Richard Rodriguez