Adjacent Words

Prim definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

PRIM, a. Properly, straight; erect; hence, formal; precise; affectedly nice.
PRIM, v.t. To deck with great nicety; to form with affected preciseness.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: affectedly dainty or refined [syn: dainty, mincing, niminy-piminy, prim, twee]
2: exaggeratedly proper; "my straitlaced Aunt Anna doesn't approve of my miniskirts" [syn: priggish, prim, prissy, prudish, puritanical, square-toed, straitlaced, strait-laced, straightlaced, straight-laced, tight- laced, victorian] v
1: assume a prim appearance; "They mince and prim"
2: contract one's lips; "She primmed her lips after every bite of food"
3: dress primly [syn: prim, prim up, prim out]

Merriam Webster's

I. transitive verb (primmed; primming) Etymology: origin unknown Date: 1706 1. to give a prim or demure expression to <primming her thin lips after every mouthful — John Buchan> 2. to dress primly II. adjective (primmer; primmest) Date: 1709 1. a. stiffly formal and proper ; decorous b. prudish 2. neat, trim <prim hedges> • primly adverb • primness noun III. abbreviation 1. primary 2. primitive

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. & v. --adj. (primmer, primmest) 1 (of a person or manner) stiffly formal and precise. 2 (of a woman or girl) demure. 3 prudish. --v.tr. (primmed, primming) 1 form (the face, lips, etc.) into a prim expression. 2 make prim. Derivatives: primly adv. primness n. Etymology: 17th c.: prob. orig. cant f. OF prin prime excellent f. L primus first

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Privet Priv"et, n. [Cf. Scot. privie, Prov. E. prim-print, primwort. Prob. for primet, and perh. named from being cut and trimmed. See, Prim, a., and cf. Prime to prune, Prim, n., Prie, n.] (Bot.) An ornamental European shrub (Ligustrum vulgare), much used in hedges; -- called also prim. Egyptian privet. See Lawsonia. Evergreen privet, a plant of the genus Rhamnus. See Alatern. Mock privet, any one of several evergreen shrubs of the genus Phillyrea. They are from the Mediterranean region, and have been much cultivated for hedges and for fancifully clipped shrubberies.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Prim Prim, n. [See Privet.] (Bot) The privet.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Prim Prim, a. [OF. prim, prin, prime, first, principal. sharp, thin, piercing, fr. L. primus first. See Prime, a.] Formal; precise; affectedly neat or nice; as, prim regularity; a prim person. --Swift.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Prim Prim, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Primmed; p. pr. & vb. n. Primming.] To deck with great nicety; to arrange with affected preciseness; to prink.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Prim Prim, v. i. To dress or act smartly. [R.]

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

If you describe someone as prim, you disapprove of them because they behave too correctly and are too easily shocked by anything rude. We tend to imagine that the Victorians were very prim and proper. ADJ [disapproval] • primly We sat primly at either end of a long settee... ADV: ADV with v

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. a. Formal, stiff, precise, starch, starched, strait-laced, affectedly nice, demure. II. n. Privet, print (Ligustrum vulgare).

Moby Thesaurus

Quakerish, Victorian, bluenosed, buckram, censorious, ceremonial, ceremonious, chipper, conventional, correct, decorous, demure, formal, genteel, hidebound, in buckram, mid-Victorian, narrow, neat, nice, old-maidish, orderly, overmodest, precise, prig, priggish, prissy, proper, prudish, puritanical, rigid, sanctimonious, shipshape, smug, snug, spick-and-span, starch, starched, stiff, stiff-necked, stilted, straight, straitlaced, stuffy, tidy, trim, uncluttered, well-groomed, wooden