What does didactic mean?
Word: Didactic
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Didactic means meant to teach something, often a moral lesson; sometimes used for writing or speech that lectures people too much.
Synonyms: educational, preachy, moralising
Word origin: From a Greek word meaning skilled at teaching.
How do you spell didactic?
Syllables: di - dac - tic
Tricky part: It ends in a plain c. Didactik and didactick are the slips to avoid, because the end sounds like a k.
Watch out for: didactik, didactick
Memory tip: The ending is the ic of music and picnic, and like them it needs no k.
Didactic in a sentence
Example 1: The film was fun, but the last scene became a little didactic about saving water.
Example 2: Grandpa's bedtime stories were never didactic; he just let us work out the lesson ourselves.
Example 3: Many old school textbooks had a didactic tone, telling children what they must always do.
Fun Fact
The Panchatantra is a classic example of didactic writing: its animal stories, first told in Sanskrit more than 1,500 years ago, were meant to teach princes how to live wisely.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word didactic as used in the sentence:
The museum's didactic panels explain how each ancient coin was made and used.
a) misleading
b) instructive
c) decorative
d) colourful
Show answer
b) instructive. Panels that explain how things were made are there to teach, so they are instructive.
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
diddactic
a) t
b) d
c) i
d) a
Show answer
b) d. Only by taking out one of the d's do you get a real word.
Spell-o-Spell
Three of these words are spelt correctly and one is misspelt. Choose the meaning of the misspelt word:
1. sarcastic 2. dydactic 3. pedantic 4. enthusiastic
a) too worried about small details and rules
b) meant to teach a lesson
c) very keen and excited
d) mocking, by saying the opposite of what you mean
Show answer
b) meant to teach a lesson. Didactic opens with di, not dy, so word 2 is the misspelt one.
Mingle-Mangle
Unscramble the jumbled word in the sentence and choose the correct word:
Uncle Ravi's speeches at family dinners are so tccdaiid that the children call them his lectures.
a) dramatic
b) didactic
c) dictation
d) academic
Show answer
b) didactic. Dictation needs an o and an n, dramatic an r and an m, and academic an e and an m.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which of these is the most didactic?
a) a music video with dancing and no words
b) a comedy show full of silly jokes
c) a road-safety film that ends with a list of rules
d) a cartoon made only to make children laugh
Show answer
c) a road-safety film that ends with a list of rules
2. Which line is most likely to end a didactic fable?
a) And the rain kept falling all through the night.
b) And the forest was quiet once more.
c) And so we learn that slow and steady wins the race.
d) And then everyone went home for a big dinner.
Show answer
c) And so we learn that slow and steady wins the race.
