prim
4
7.0
- adjective
- /prɪm/
:
formal
- Lily d'Bulier is prim, proper, and likes to consider herself pragmatic rather than timid.
- prim and proper
- very prim
- so prim
Then I also bought a skirt from a Selfridge and I bought this because I do think that sometimes I dress a bit too prim and proper.
- Then I also bought a skirt from a Selfridge and I bought this because I do think that sometimes I dress a bit too prim and proper.
Examples
-
Poor Marion Crane, always so tight, so respectable, so prim and so proper.
-
Lady Lily d'Bulier is prim, proper, and prefers to think of herself as pragmatic rather than timid.
Blog text (21) -
It's not exactly prim and proper.
-
What I mean is, he thinks I'm sort of... prim and proper, you know.
-
A time when the core of society was rotten... even though on the surface it appeared prim and proper.
Blog text (19) -
I knew you weren't as prim and starchy as they made out.
-
I always think of people from the nineteenth century as being all prim and proper, but they weren't.
Blog text (6) -
"Yes, Frances?" Edwina pretended to look very prim and proper.
Fiction book (1991) -
I think of Ora sitting as prim and proper as any antebellum lady, and I feel a jangling of the nerves, a ripple of excitement.
Fiction book (2000) -
The teacher always dressed prim and proper for her classes, setting a formal tone for her students.
Synonyms
394
3.0
Official and proper in a way suitable for important occasions
71
4.6
Calm and serious in a way that shows self respect and gets respect from others
14
7.7
Polite and elegant in a way that tries to impress others
14
8.2
Disapproving of pleasure and very strict about moral behavior
13
7.9
Too fussy about being neat and proper
8
8.2
Having very strict old-fashioned ideas about sex and how people should behave
8
7.1
Easily shocked by sex and strict about modesty
4
7.1
Very strict about correct behavior and manners
3
7.0
Very formal and correct in clothes and manners, often strict and stiff
3
7.9
Polite and showing good manners in formal situations
1
8.4
Very strict about manners and morals and disapproving of anything seen as improper
1
9.9
Acting as if you are better than others about rules and manners
1
7.8
Very strict about behavior and dress
1
8.2
Having very strict rules about proper behaviour and dress
Too formal and neat in a way that feels cold
Too careful about manners in an obvious fake way
Speaking or moving in a small, careful way to seem more refined than they are
Having neat, polite style and manners like a proper woman
Being very fussy about neatness and proper behaviour
Being too fussy about small things in a way seen as typical of older women
Being very strict about how people behave and dress
Antonyms
Idioms
How Proper
Surface Forms
Etymology
Prim is linked to primp, 'to make neat or tidy', and you can also hear it in the phrase prim and proper. That's why if someone is prim they are very formal, tidy, and a little old-fashioned in their manners.