priggish

American  

[prig-ish] / ˈprɪg ɪʃ /

adjective

1. fussy about trivialities or propriety, especially in a self-righteous or irritating manner.

   At the beginning of the book, Eustace is an unpleasant, unlikable, and priggish character.

   He never softened his message to please genteel tastes or priggish scruples.

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Other Word Forms

• priggishness
  noun
• unpriggish
  adjective
• priggishly
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of priggish

prig ¹ ( def. ) + -ish ¹

Explanation

Priggish people are snobby and self-righteous. An overly prim and proper movie character who's always telling other people what they should do is priggish. If you offer your opinion on how your friends should live their lives, and especially if you're very uptight and snooty, people will think you're priggish. The adjective priggish comes from the eighteenth century prig, "precise in speech and manners," which was also used to mean "religiously devout." Earlier, a prig was "a petty thief."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

priggish

All the characters the excellent Mr. Felciano plays are sinister, selfish or generally priggish.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026

Isabel, unmarried, priggish and devoted to her housekeeping routine, lives alone in her family’s home, ostensibly keeping it safe for the brother who inherited it.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 10, 2024

It was hardly the first role that allowed him to explore fussy or priggish characters.

From New York Times ● Feb. 5, 2023

This priggish sleight of hand is Barr’s wheelhouse.

From Slate ● May 2, 2019

Suddenly, she was right there before me, that busy, priggish, conceited little girl, and she was not dead either, for when people tittered appreciatively at “evanesce” my feeble heart—ridiculous vanity!—made a little leap.

From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan