All 3 Uses of
pedantic
in
1984, by Orwell
- Winston thought for a moment, then pulled the speakwrite towards him and began dictating in Big Brother's familiar style: a style at once military and pedantic, and, because of a trick of asking questions and then promptly answering them ('What lessons do we learn from this fact, comrades?')
p. 46.7pedantic = with excessive concern for formal rules and details
- He bit hungrily into his bread and swallowed a couple of mouthfuls, then continued speaking, with a sort of pedant's passion.†
p. 51.2 *pedant = someone too concerned with formal rules, details, or book learning
- A sort of intellectual warmth, the joy of the pedant who has found out some useless fact, shone through the dirt and scrubby hair.†
p. 231.3
Definitions:
-
(1)
(pedantic) too concerned with formal rules, details, or book learning
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
In historic literature, you may see pedant used as a synonym for school teacher.