prig
noun
a person who displays or demands of others pointlessly precise conformity, fussiness about trivialities, or exaggerated propriety, especially in a self-righteous or irritating manner.
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.
A version of me—the one that’s priggishly polite, soft-spoken, and shocked by rude emotion—registered her sarcasm perfectly.
From Slate ● Oct. 15, 2018
The novel priggishly assures us that storms in love are all the result of private-property relations.
From The New Yorker ● Jul. 23, 2018
Morgan imbues Louisa with poignant grace, and Davis makes priggishly pious Anna less of a cartoon than she might otherwise be.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 5, 2016
Neshaminy priggishly piles on, labeling her behavior as "egregious."
From New York Times ● Nov. 19, 2015
As to the clergymen who appear in this story, two of them are priggishly academic, a third is a comfortable antiquarian, and the fourth unacquainted with even the A.B.C. of his own pastoral theology.
From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 102, February 27, 1892 by Various
