schoolmarm

American  

[skool-mahrm] / ˈskulˌmɑrm /

noun

Older Use.

1. a female schoolteacher, especially of the old-time country school type, popularly held to be strict and priggish.

---

schoolmarm British  

/ ˈskuːlˌmɑːm /

noun

1. a woman schoolteacher, esp when considered to be prim, prudish, or old-fashioned

2. any woman considered to be prim, prudish, or old-fashioned

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• schoolmarmish
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of schoolmarm

1835–45, variant of schoolma'am

Example Sentences

When observing public figures, there’s danger in scrutinizing off-the-cuff remarks, policing conversation like a schoolmarm.

From Seattle Times • Nov. 15, 2023

But she is still a substitute teacher, squirming to be the best schoolmarm she can be.

From Washington Times • Feb. 20, 2023

Ms. Theurer, a deeply religious wife and grandmother with schoolmarm charm, was an unlikely pandemic czar, but she leaped into the role head-on.

From New York Times • Oct. 6, 2022

If every old-timey town had a schoolmarm as enchanting and electric as DeBose’s Miss Emma, we might not be wallowing in the ignorance we find ourselves in today.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 1, 2022

She was more than a schoolmarm with a ruler, trying to nudge me to the straight and narrow, which could never work.

From "X: A Novel" by Ilyasah Shabazz