proper adjective
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of proper adjective
First recorded in 1900–05
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 proper adjective is an adjective formed from a proper name; as, American, English, Platonic, Genoese.
From The Grammar of English Grammars by Brown, Goold
In every rural neighborhood there are smart men—"smart" is the proper adjective; for they are neither sagacious nor trustworthy, and there is ever a dismal hiatus between their promises and performance.
From The Home Acre by Roe, Edward Payson
In the title of "His Most Christian Majesty," the superlative adverb is applied to a proper adjective; but who will pretend that we ought to understand by it "the highest degree" of Christian attainment?
From The Grammar of English Grammars by Brown, Goold
After a while his wife had found the proper adjective for it: his eyes were haunted.
From Love of Brothers by Tynan, Katharine
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.
