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More formal word for "know-it-all" was closed as duplicate of Know-it-alls--a synonym, which is duplicate of Is there word for this, other than know-it-all?, which is duplicate of One word for someone who thinks they can do anything, and believes everything they do is right but others are wrong.

I understand that there are many words and phrases that can be used in place of know-it-all. But the question doesn't need to be closed because

  1. It has a very specific context.
  2. It is seeking a more formal word than know-it-all. There is no answer in any of those questions that say which word or phrase is more formal than others.
  3. The OP is explaining why the question is not duplicate.

I think this question reads far better than a majority of questions that are not closed on ELU. Can we just reopen the question and let the OP get an answer and move on? Is closing it the best thing we can do about it?

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    The same question, a more formal word or term for some one who acts knowledgeable but isn't, seems to have been asked many times with little progress. 'Charlatan' seems to be the only word that fits all these (not perfectly but closer to all of the desiderata than any other. Actually, a 'know-it-all' isn't necessarily saying untruths. Let's be lenient and reopen.
    – Mitch
    Oct 25, 2016 at 14:02
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    What @Mitch said. The OP has made more than enough effort to explain why similar earlier questions don't meet his needs. In some cases I might think a dup closure should stand even if nothing in earlier answers addresses the specific point being queried later. Maybe the later one is about some trivial extrapolation that can be easily be pointed out in a comment, for example. But in this case nothing like that seems to apply. It's open now, so go get 'em, tigers!
    – FumbleFingers
    Oct 25, 2016 at 16:55
  • Ironically enough, I suspect that if I expanded on my point that sometimes we should aim to extend / improve existing answers, rather than allow later questions that should have been answered, but weren't exactly to stand, your very question here might be more at risk of getting closed as a duplicate of earlier meta questions in the whole general area of How close does a duplicate have to be?
    – FumbleFingers
    Oct 25, 2016 at 17:56
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    @Rathony Not on topic, but welcome back.
    – ab2
    Oct 25, 2016 at 23:10

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