prim

Meaning

Adj

1. Of a person, their manner or appearance: Formal and precise; stiffly decorous.
2. (broadly) Of a person: Prudish; straight-laced.
3. Of things: Neat; trim.

Verb

1. (archaic, intransitive) To make one's expression prim.
2. (archaic, transitive) To give a prim or demure expression to (one's face, mouth, or (rare) lips).
3. (archaic, transitive) To dress (one) up affectedly or demurely.

Noun

A prim person.

Noun

privet

Synonyms

prudish

affected

stilted

artificial

showy

formal

straitlaced

prissy

straight-laced

trim

stiff

mincing

prink

doll

prim out

neat

tog

victorian

twee

titivate

natty

prim up

niminy-piminy

square-toed

straightlaced

smart

puritanical

dainty

priggish

pretentious

strait-laced

tight-laced

fastidious

fancy

chilly

embellish

elegant

chic

beautify

dressy

ceremonious

discriminating

demure

ceremonial

attire

anal

particular

pedantic

perfunctory

ornament

Translations

bégueule

collet monté

prüde

unnatürlich

afectado

afectado

gekunsteld

gekünstelt

geziert

gezwungen

gemaakt

gewrongen

affektiert

guindé

afetadamente pudico

Pronounced as (IPA)

/pɹɪm/

Etymology

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.