prim
pronunciation
How to pronounce prim in British English:
UK [prɪm]
How to pronounce prim in American English:
US [prɪm]
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- Verb:
- assume a prim appearance
- contract one's lips
- dress primly
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- Adjective:
- affectedly dainty or refined
- exaggeratedly proper
Word Origin
- prim
- prim: [18] Prim etymologically means ‘first’. It comes from Old French prime, the feminine form of prin ‘fine, excellent’, which went back to Latin prīmus ‘first’ (source of English prime). The English meaning developed through a derogatory ‘overrefined’.=> first, prime
- prim
- 1680s (v.) "to assume a formal, precise demeanor," perhaps from French prim "thin, small, delicate," from Old French prim "fine, delicate," from Latin primus "finest," literally "first" (see prime (adj.)). Later, "deck out, dress to effect" (1721). Attested as a noun from 1700. The adjective, the sole surviving sense, is from 1709. A cant word at first. Related: Primly; primness.
Synonym
Example
- 1. The ads range from prim to raunchy ; a good number of people include photographs of precisely what they have to offer .
- 2. One vestige of colonial rule in particular - a prim attitude about public manners-has been a common source of disputes between locals and mainland visitors .
- 3. In mr verity 's translation , achilles 's outburst above becomes the prim " I abominate his gifts , and I value him no more than a splinter . "
- 4. Her mother , on the other hand , was a proud member of the united daughters of the confederacy , a prim and proper southern lady .
- 5. If grandfather were here , she thought , he would say that it was all my governess 's fault for raising me to be so prim and proper !