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
But as Wicks fell to the floor, Jud was onstage clutching a 6-foot cross and each of the other potential suspects was seated primly in their seats.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 25, 2025
"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
The line of cases that led to Roe, and led from it to other rights, is “inapposite,” Alito wrote primly.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 1, 2022
She is sitting primly at her dressing table, clad all in brown and gold.
From "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black
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.
