prissy

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. adjective exaggeratedly proper
  2. adjective excessively fastidious and easily disgusted

Etymology

1895, either an alteration of precise, blend of prim + sissy, or a blend of prim + fussy; first attested in a work of American writer Joel Chandler Harris.

In classic literature

Synonyms

priggish, prim, prudish, puritanical, square-toed, straitlaced, strait-laced, straightlaced, straight-laced, tight-laced, victorian

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