Gloss · Words · Didactic

didactic

daɪˈdæktɪkadjective

What does didactic mean?

Meant to teach a lesson, often in a preachy way.

Didactic, six ways

PlainMeant to teach a lesson, often in a preachy way.
ADHDTeachy. Here comes the lesson. Maybe too much.
Gen ZWhen a movie or a person keeps teaching you a lesson you did not ask for.
MetaphorA sermon hiding in a story.
FormalIntended to teach, especially with a moral lesson; inclined to lecture.
Like I’m 5A story or a person that is always trying to teach you something. That’s didactic.

How to pronounce didactic

dye-DAK-tik/daɪˈdæktɪk/

Didactic in a sentence

The novel is didactic but still moving.
The museum’s signs were helpful, if a bit didactic.
Medieval fables were often openly didactic.

Synonyms for didactic

instructiveTeaches, without the sermon.
preachyCasual, and always a complaint.
moralizingTeaching right and wrong, insistently.

Where didactic comes from

Greek. Didaktikos, apt at teaching, from didaskein, to teach.

Good to know

Neutral in education (didactic materials) but often a criticism of art: a didactic novel teaches at you.

Didactic meaning, on a Gloss card: Meant to teach a lesson, often in a preachy way.

Save the card

Didactic on one card: what it means, how to say it, and a sentence. Keep it, or pin it for later.

Download the card Pin it

Coming to the App Store

Gloss explains every word like this, in the style you choose, and brings it back until it stays. A word of the day on your home screen, games that build your vocabulary, no ads. For iPhone, free for three days.

Words like didactic

obfuscate · enigma · ineffable · disparate · diaphanous · loquacious · All 110 words

In: Words for ideas · SAT words