usageastern.
/ˌjuːsᵻdʒˈastə/, /ˈjuːsᵻdʒastə/, /ˌjuːsᵻdʒˈeɪstə/, /ˈjuːsᵻdʒeɪstə/, U.S. /ˈjusɪdʒˌæstər/; see also usage n. Originally U.S.
A self-appointed expert on language usage, esp. one regarded as having ill-informed, conservative, or pedantic views.
ΚΠ
1980 T. Clark in Amer. Speech 55 132 We can help such people overcome their insecurity by making a clear distinction between usageasters and usage experts. Usageaster is my term, formed on analogy with poetaster.
1984 Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. No. 71. 39 One of the more difficult problems exacerbated if not created by the usageasters is to overcome the impression that ‘correct’ English is uniform.
1992 D. Brown in Language 76 309 Aren't I is still occasionally questioned by today's usagists and usageasters.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2011; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
<
n.1980