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.

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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

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Other Word Forms

• schoolmarmish
  adjective

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Etymology

Origin of schoolmarm

1835–45, variant of schoolma'am

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

schoolmarm

Here’s how to wear them without evoking a schoolmarm.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026

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

One of her most memorable roles was in Brooks’ “Blazing Saddles,” as Harriet Johnson, a schoolmarm who is among the residents of a Western town offended when a Black sheriff is appointed.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 2, 2020

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

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