primly
Americanadverb
-
in a proper, neat, precise, or fastidious way.
Today I stand in my navy blue uniform, my feet primly encased in black boots laced neatly over wool socks.
As we left the restaurant I noticed that most of the other diners were eating their shrimp with knives and forks, primly dissecting each one.
-
(especially of a woman or girl) in a way that is excessively demure or modest.
Justin and I sat, and she sat across from us, primly holding her knees together and folding her hands on top of them.
Etymology
Origin of primly
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.
The buxom stall-owner lifts a furry, giant hare, its dead eyes glazed, as a primly dressed female customer offers coins in payment.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
This was no primly patterned minuet, where dancers stood side by side, attention directed to precisely mapping elaborate steps.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 31, 2024
Once upon a time, the copy editorial guild united against “xeroxing” — to many authors’ fury — in favor, primly, of “photocopying.”
From Washington Post ● Aug. 11, 2022
"Flowers in the Attic: The Origin" takes it one primly heeled step further: there's no electricity in the house.
From Salon ● Jul. 16, 2022
He stood next to the giant dictionary on its little table, and Mrs. Granger walked to the back of the classroom and sat primly on a tall stool next to the bookcases.
From "Frindle" by Andrew Clements
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.
