preppy
Americannoun
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a person who is a student at or a graduate of a preparatory school.
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a person who favors or is viewed as favoring clothing style or behavior associated with traditional preparatory schools.
adjective
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of, relating to, or characteristic of preparatory schools or their students.
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of, pertaining to, characteristic of, or being a style in dress or mode of behavior of a preppy.
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of preppy
Explanation
Someone who's preppy either attended an expensive, private high school and an Ivy League college — or just dresses that way. The informal preppy comes from "college preparatory school," its shortened form, "prep school," and the resulting noun prep, used to describe graduates of these elite high schools. You can substitute preppy as a noun, too: "The campus is full of preppies — maybe I'll go to art school instead." Preppy style includes dressing in polo shirts, khaki pants, and boat shoes, or looking like you just finished playing tennis or riding a horse.
Vocabulary lists containing preppy
Man Made Monsters
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
When reporting out his story, I contacted Stern, the filmmaker and old prep school chum who made The Preppy Murder.
From Slate • Oct. 13, 2025
Carroll is expected to testify, as are two friends she spoke to soon after the alleged rape: Lisa Birnbach, who wrote "The Official Preppy Handbook," and former New York news anchor Carol Martin.
From Reuters • Apr. 20, 2023
She co-wrote and edited “The Official Preppy Handbook” and wrote “True Prep.”
From Washington Post • Mar. 11, 2022
I concur with Fieri and with Preppy Kitchen's John Kanell in believing the less slicing, the better.
From Salon • Jan. 23, 2022
There are also spooky treats, and Preppy Kitchen’s John Kanell shows how to make a festive bat cake.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 30, 2020
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
