pedant
Obsessive rule-follower
A pedant is someone who makes an excessive display of learning or who insists rigidly on rules and details, especially minor ones.
The word carries a negative charge—pedants correct others' grammar at parties, cite obscure authorities, and miss the forest for the trees: Don't be such a pedant about the spelling.
Pedantic is the adjective.
One who criticizes trivial details
- hair-splitterOne obsessing over minutiae
- quibblerOne who raises petty objections
- faultfinderOne who criticizes constantly
- cavilerOne who nitpicks
stickler · purist · fusspot · carper · pettifogger · nit-picking · quibble · cavil
Profoundly knowledgeable
- learnedHaving much knowledge
- intellectualConcerning thought and reason
- academicRelating to education or theory
- bookishDevoted to reading
scholarly · professor · tutor · grammarian · lexicographer · etymologist · philologist · classicist
Causing mild frustration
- tediousBoring through length
- tiresomeCausing boredom or annoyance
- exasperatingIntensely irritating
- insufferableImpossible to put up with
overbearing · vexing · grating · wearisome · bothersome · obnoxious · pompous · smug
Accuracy of measurement
- exactnessCorrectness in every detail
- detailSingle small element
- thoroughComplete in every detail
- carefulExercising caution and attention
scrupulous · methodical · systematic · punctilious · fastidious · conscientious · exacting · accurate
Asserting opinions as facts
- inflexibleUnable to bend
- unyieldingRefusing to give way
- stubbornRefusing to change course
- uncompromisingRefusing to yield ground
rule-bound · hidebound · by-the-book · orthodox · doctrinaire · formalist · strict · legalistic
Seeking out imperfections
- hypercriticalExcessively prone to censure
- censoriousSeverely critical in judgment
- judgmentalInclined to criticize others
- disparagingExpressing negative judgment
captious · overcritical · scrutiny · carping · condemnatory · harsh · unforgiving · dismissive
nitpicker
One who criticizes trivial details
- hair-splitterOne obsessing over minutiae
- quibblerOne who raises petty objections
- faultfinderOne who criticizes constantly
caviler · stickler · purist · fusspot · carper · pettifogger · nit-picking · quibble · cavil · hair-splitting
erudite
Profoundly knowledgeable
- learnedHaving much knowledge
- intellectualConcerning thought and reason
- academicRelating to education or theory
bookish · scholarly · professor · tutor · grammarian · lexicographer · etymologist · philologist · classicist · doctrinaire
irksome
Causing mild frustration
- tediousBoring through length
- tiresomeCausing boredom or annoyance
- exasperatingIntensely irritating
insufferable · overbearing · vexing · grating · wearisome · bothersome · obnoxious · pompous · smug · self-righteous
precision
Accuracy of measurement
careful · scrupulous · methodical · systematic · punctilious · fastidious · conscientious · exacting · accurate · diligent
dogmatic
Asserting opinions as facts
- inflexibleUnable to bend
- unyieldingRefusing to give way
- stubbornRefusing to change course
uncompromising · rule-bound · hidebound · by-the-book · orthodox · doctrinaire · formalist · strict · legalistic · prescriptivist
faultfinding
Seeking out imperfections
- hypercriticalExcessively prone to censure
- censoriousSeverely critical in judgment
- judgmentalInclined to criticize others
disparaging · captious · overcritical · scrutiny · carping · condemnatory · harsh · unforgiving · dismissive · superior
- difficult peopleegomaniac, egotist, nitpicker, drama queen, control freak
- thinkersthinkers, thinker, philosophers, philosopher, Aristotle
- know-it-allsknow-it-all, smart aleck, wise guy, wiseacre, smarty
- snobssnob, elitist, snoot, prig, highbrow
- judgmental typesmoralist, moralizer, prig, prude, puritan
- Perfectionistsperfectionist, nitpicker, stickler, precisionist, neat freak
pedantdilettante
Superficial pursuer of arts
dabbler · philistine · anti-intellectual · amateur · generalist
pedantfree spirit
Uninhibited, unconventional person
bohemian · improviser · nonconformist · pragmatist · freethinker
pedantvisionary
Imaginative planner of futures
polymath · generalist · synthesizer · pragmatist · man of action