prim
adjEtymology
Of uncertain origin. In the verb sense, first appeared in Thomas D'Urfey's A Fool's Preferment in the year 1688. In the noun sense, first appeared in A New Dictionary of the Terms Ancient and Modern of the Canting Crew in the year 1699, meaning "prig." Now obsolete. In the adjective sense, first appeared in Sir Richard Steele's The Funeral in the year 1702, meaning "consciously or affectedly strict or precise; stiffly formal and respectable." Oxford English Dictionary proposed a relation with primp and prink. Chiefly Scottish and U.S.
Definitions
Of a person, their manner or appearance
Of a person, their manner or appearance: Formal and precise; stiffly decorous.
- Philemon was in great Surprize, And hardly could believe his Eyes, Amaz’d to ſee her look ſo prim; And ſhe admir’d as much at him.
- God damn it, what does she want of me, this sad, beautiful bridgeplayer of the Fifth Floor, with her air of lost love and her prim carnality?
- And although Paul shares an apartment with his prim wife, aptly named Prudence, they rarely see or speak to each other.
Of a person
Of a person: Prudish; straight-laced.
Of things
Of things: Neat; trim.
- prim regularity
›+ 6 more definitionsshow fewer
To make one's expression prim.
To give a prim or demure expression to (one's face, mouth, or (rare) lips).
To dress (one) up affectedly or demurely.
A prim person.
privet
A surname.
The neighborhood
Derived
Vish — recursive loop
A definitional loop anchored at prim. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.
A definitional loop anchored at prim. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.
10 hops · closes at prim
curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA