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.
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
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
After a while his wife had found the proper adjective for it: his eyes were haunted.
From Love of Brothers by Tynan, Katharine
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
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.
