spinsterly
1
9.9
- adjective
- /ˈspɪnstərli/
- Slur
- She wore a spinsterly dress that reminded everyone of an earlier time.
Examples
-
She stands before him, dressed in a white spinsterly Victorian outfit with braids coiled at her ears.
Fiction book (2000) -
My options as a strange, weird-talking, and comparatively spinsterly woman (I'm 22)!
Blog text (24) -
Darling's spinsterly heart, the air crisp with the promise of an early frost, perhaps even of snow.
Fiction book (1999) -
The decorators chose a spinsterly style for the tea room, featuring floral prints and antique furniture.
-
Her spinsterly habits included knitting by the fireplace and hosting book clubs on Wednesday afternoons.
Synonyms
4
6.8
Has the calm, caring manner of an older dignified woman
1
9.3
Being too fussy about small things in a way seen as typical of older women
Being very fussy about neatness and proper behaviour
Antonyms
How Prim
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Spinsterly comes from spinster, which originally meant a person who 'spun' thread, from the verb spin. Because people who spun often worked at home and led neat, quiet lives, spinsterly now describes a neat, old-fashioned, or prim way of behaving like that of an 'unmarried woman'.