Link Centre Dictionary

prim

UK/pɹɪm/ US/pʰɹ̠̊ɪm/ uncommon archaic obsolete
adjective (2) verb (3)

adjective

1.
2.

verb

1.

assume a prim appearance

  • “They mince and prim”
2.

contract one''s lips

  • “She primmed her lips after every bite of food”
3.

Origin

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.

Phrases

  • prim and proper

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.