The Only Use of
pedantic
in
Pride and Prejudice
- Mary had neither genius nor taste; and though vanity had given her application, it had given her likewise a pedantic air and conceited manner, which would have injured a higher degree of excellence than she had reached.
p. 25.9pedantic = excessive concern with book learning
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.