priss

American  

[pris] / prɪs /

noun

1. someone who is excessively prim, proper, or fussy; an affectedly dainty or prissy person.

   Call me a priss, but I think the relentless explicitness in this novel reduces the characters somehow.

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verb (used without object)

1. to act or move in a prim, fussy, or affectedly dainty way, like a priss.

   I’m not one to primp and priss over myself in the bathroom.

   At halftime I like to see the baton twirlers priss around in their itty-bitty costumes.

Etymology

Origin of priss

An Americanism dating back to 1920–25; back formation from prissy

Example Sentences

Amina keeps her musical activities a secret from her devout school friends, forcing the already nervous priss into a double life.

From Washington Post • Jun. 16, 2021

But whatever calculations had gone into the match of a priss and a perfectionist were now deconstructed.

From Salon • Jan. 18, 2016

If I decline to eat one, I am a calorie-phobic priss who's terrified of displaying weakness in public.

From The Guardian • May 11, 2013

Sure, you could point out at length that Swift is being a bit of a sour-faced priss here, but there's no win for women in ripping chunks out of other women.

From The Guardian • Mar. 9, 2013

Leah turned to Rachel and hissed, “You priss, you couldn’t even sift the flour!”

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver