prim
adjective
formally precise or proper, as persons or behavior; stiffly neat.
prim
1 American
[prim]
/ prɪm /
adjective
-
primmer,
comparative
-
primmest
superlative
verb (used without object)
primmed,
primming
verb (used with object)
primmed,
primming
-
to make prim, as in appearance.
-
to draw (one's face, lips, etc.) into a prim expression.
prim
2
American
[prim]
/ prɪm /
noun
prim.
3
American
abbreviation
-
primary.
-
primitive.
prim
British
/ prɪm /
adjective
verb
-
(tr) to make prim
-
to purse (the mouth) primly or (of the mouth) to be so pursed
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of prim1
First recorded in 1675–85; origin uncertain
Origin of prim2
First recorded in 1565–75; shortening of earlier primprint privet < ?
Explanation
Prim means polite, straight-laced, even twee. Many characters in Jane Austen novels are prim and proper. Prim describes someone who is so concerned with being proper it becomes almost fake. If you go to the beach on spring break wearing a Victorian bathing costume, you're being prim. Clothes can be prim, too, like that long wool swimsuit. If you're feeling crazy, you can use prim as a verb meaning, "to purse your mouth into a prim expression" — like how you prim your lips when you look down your nose at someone using the wrong fork.
Vocabulary lists containing prim
Bridge to Terabithia
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Frindle
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
The Egypt Game
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
See Examples For:
Early in her career, Swift had a reputation for being prim and proper.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2025
Before each performance, the scene is set by a narrator who speaks in a prim, puritanical accent reminiscent of a bygone era.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 10, 2024
Not only are viewers watching boldface names eat, they’re also watching them eat foods that are considered distasteful — which goes against the prim and proper image that celebrities are expected to uphold.
From Salon ● Jan. 29, 2024
A portrait of a prim young lady in bright brushstrokes was being sold for $5,190.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 2, 2023
In reality, though, we were keen-eyed investigators, devouring everything in sight: the prim houses, the speeding buggies, the passing faces.
From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan
A stew; prim. the pot in which the stew is made, which, as in the case of the olla, has come to signify the contents.
From The Bible in Spain - Vol. 2 [of 2] by George Henry Borrow
Place of imprisonment, penitentiary; prim. a fortress, or the garrison thereof.
From The Bible in Spain - Vol. 2 [of 2] by George Henry Borrow
I think it is, Edwardi sext. or prim. et quint.
From An Essay on Man by Henry Morley
The brasher yet primmer Adewunmi speaks in a cosmopolitan London accent, while the quieter but more moan-prone Perkins drawls in a slight Tennessee twang.
From Slate ● Jun. 18, 2018
To hear the "pulpit genius," Dr. Joseph Parker, actors, authors, artists and bohemians pressed into City Temple alongside primmer Victorians.
From Time Magazine Archive
"Be the tarnal primmer, Dandy Duffy, but I see it now!" said the Rouser, struck by Bartle's address, and indignant at the idea of having been overreached by him.
From Fardorougha, The Miser The Works of William Carleton, Volume One by William Carleton
"Let me look out," said the second lady, who was, if possible, older and thinner and primmer than the first.
From The Strand Magazine, Volume XXVII, Issue 160, April, 1904 by Various
The ladies of Charles II's reign were a little coarser, a little primmer, a good deal more ignorant than those of our age.
From A Century of English Essays An Anthology Ranging from Caxton to R. L. Stevenson & the Writers of Our Own Time by Ernest Rhys
And even the primmest of towns will have their mischief-makers.
From Slate ● May 4, 2026
Into an elegant manse atop the white cliffs of England's south coast ventures Deborah Kerr, beautifully coiffed and dressed for a royal weekend, doing her primmest impersonation of a gentlewoman fallen upon difficult days.
From Time Magazine Archive
The house stood well back from the street, in the trimmest and primmest little garden that ever was seen.
From Geoffrey Strong by Laura Elizabeth Howe Richards
But these things had been there in the reign of Mr. Meredith's predecessor, when the manse had been the primmest, neatest, and dreariest house in the Glen.
From Rainbow Valley by L. M. (Lucy Maud) Montgomery
“So sorry––it’s promised already,” said Mary Hope, in her primmest tone.
From Rim o' the World by Anton Otto Fischer
Mrs. Davis asked herself, and then primmed up her unbeautiful mouth.
From Rainbow Valley by L. M. (Lucy Maud) Montgomery
Jo understood why Laurie "primmed up his mouth" when speaking of Kate, for that young lady had a stand-off-don't-touch-me air, which contrasted strongly with the free and easy demeanor of the other girls.
From Little Women or Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy by Louisa May Alcott
You ought to be 'all primmed up with majestick pride.'
From The Governess by Charles R. Chickering
He saw the fine thin lips, like a woman's, primmed in satisfaction.
From The Path of the King by John Buchan
With other thought, mark also the Abbé Maury; his broad bold face, mouth accurately primmed, full eyes, that ray out intelligence, falsehood,—the sort of sophistry which is astonished you should find it sophistical.
From Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern, Vol. VIII by Various
"I told Ma that she had on bracelets, and Ma said she feared your cousin was a worldly person," retorted Cecy, primming up her lips.
From What Katy Did by Susan Coolidge
Then pulled herself together as the landlady in curled fringe and long grey ulster entered the room, primming long, thin lips.
From The Privet Hedge by J. E. Buckrose
His face was dingy, his lips were grey, From primming sparrowbills day by day; As he turned his boot he heard a noise At his garden-end and he thought, "It's boys."
From Reynard the Fox by John Masefield
To wind up all, Ellwood, primming up his Mouth, says, "Thou hast found much to tell us, Friend Milton, on Paradise Lost;—now, what hast thou to tell of Paradise Regained?"
From Mary Powell & Deborah's Diary by Anne Manning
She sat very straight in her chair, eating with the careful gentility of a bird, and primming her thin lips after every mouthful of tea.
From Huntingtower by John Buchan
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
