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.
Remember the kid who sat next to you in math class and primly guarded his test paper from cheating eyes with a bent elbow?
From New York Times • Feb. 3, 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
In the summer of 1961, she joined a group of primly dressed church ladies who delivered sandwiches to jailed Freedom Riders.
From Seattle Times • Dec. 19, 2021
When Billy thought of them he always pictured young guys with glasses and attache cases sitting primly on the A train and thumbing through a thick book.
From "145th Street: Short Stories" by Walter Dean Myers
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.
