primy
1
9.9
- adjective
- Archaic
- The teacher's primy manner intimidated some of the younger students.
Examples
-
He wore a primy suit that looked out of place at the beach party.
-
His primy behavior made everyone uncomfortable during the casual dinner.
-
Her primy attitude made her seem distant at the informal gathering.
-
Don't be so primy at the party!
-
She looked quite primy in her new dress.
-
She adopted a primy stance, wearing a formal dress to the laid-back barbecue.
-
The primy decorations in her office gave it an overly formal atmosphere.
Synonyms
374
3.0
Official and proper in a way suitable for important occasions
64
4.6
Calm and serious in a way that shows self respect and gets respect from others
14
7.9
Too fussy about being neat and proper
13
7.7
Polite and elegant in a way that tries to impress others
4
7.0
Very formal and correct in clothes and manners, often strict and stiff
Too careful about being proper and easily shocked
Antonyms
How Formal
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Primy comes from the same idea as prim, which means very neat or proper, like the phrase 'prim and proper'. A helpful way to remember it is to think of someone who always wants things 'first' and tidy, so primy means overly formal or distant.