prim
adjective
formally precise or proper, as persons or behavior; stiffly neat.
primness
-
a word derived from
prim.
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 certain primness enters the author’s account of the summer vacation Clara and Brahms took together in 1855.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
But the show's outlandish plots more than made up for its primness, whether that was ACP Pradyuman coming back from the dead or inspector Daya single-handedly manoeuvring a poison-gas filled plane to safety.
From BBC ● Dec. 7, 2024
Yet there is a note of primness to Webster’s storytelling.
From New York Times ● Jul. 28, 2022
Sure, it’s sort of pretending to be private and polite, and this gives it a slightly weird and contorted energy; you don’t often see trolling combined with H-E-double-hockey-sticks primness.
From Slate ● Nov. 4, 2021
She told him so, the primness in her tone reflecting her thoughts.
From Ovington's Bank by Stanley J. Weyman
