pedantic
/pəˈdæn.tɪk/adjective
pedantic is spelled P-E-D-A-N-T-I-C: 8 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 43,663rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, pedantic means “Being overly concerned with formal rules and trivial points of learning, like a pedant” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in pedantic?
| Letters | 8: P-E-D-A-N-T-I-C |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 43,663rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is pedantic?
Pedantic appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 43,663rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce pedantic?
- /pəˈdæn.tɪk/
Pedantic has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-pedantic.ogg, En-au-pedantic.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of pedantic
- more pedantic comparative
- most pedantic superlative
- pædantic rare
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does pedantic mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Being overly concerned with formal rules and trivial points of learning, like a pedant.
- 2
Tending to show off one’s knowledge, often in a tiresome manner.
They had heard people call things pedantic, which they did not think were so ; for instance, a boy had once said that Harry himself was a pedant, for talking of the siege of Syracuse, and of the machines used there, because the boy knew not
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Pedantic in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense like a pedant:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | méticuleux, pédant |
| German | pedantisch |
| Portuguese | pedante |
| Spanish | pedante, pretencioso, pedantesco |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does pedantic come from?
From pedant + -ic.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).