[syn: priggish, prim, prissy, prudish, puritanical, square-toed, straitlaced, strait-laced, straightlaced, straight-laced, tight-laced, victorian]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Privet \Priv"et\, n. [Cf. Scot. privie, Prov. E. prim-print,
primwort. Prob. for primet, and perh. named from being cut
and trimmed. See, Prim, a., and cf. Prime to prune,
Prim, n., Prie, n.] (Bot.)
An ornamental European shrub (Ligustrum vulgare), much used
in hedges; -- called also prim.
[1913 Webster]
Egyptian privet. See Lawsonia.
Evergreen privet, a plant of the genus Rhamnus. See
Alatern.
Mock privet, any one of several evergreen shrubs of the
genus Phillyrea. They are from the Mediterranean region,
and have been much cultivated for hedges and for
fancifully clipped shrubberies.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Prim \Prim\, n. [See Privet.] (Bot)
The privet.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Prim \Prim\, a. [OF. prim, prin, prime, first, principal. sharp,
thin, piercing, fr. L. primus first. See Prime, a.]
Formal; precise; affectedly neat or nice; as, prim
regularity; a prim person. --Swift.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Prim \Prim\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Primmed; p. pr. & vb. n.
Primming.]
To deck with great nicety; to arrange with affected
preciseness; to prink.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Prim \Prim\, v. i.
To dress or act smartly. [R.]
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
prim
adj 1: affectedly dainty or refined [syn: dainty, mincing,
niminy-piminy, prim, twee]
2: exaggeratedly proper; "my straitlaced Aunt Anna doesn't
approve of my miniskirts" [syn: priggish, prim, prissy,
prudish, puritanical, square-toed, straitlaced,
strait-laced, straightlaced, straight-laced, tight-
laced, victorian]
v 1: assume a prim appearance; "They mince and prim"
2: contract one's lips; "She primmed her lips after every bite
of food"
3: dress primly [syn: prim, prim up, prim out]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
49 Moby Thesaurus words for "prim":
Quakerish, Victorian, bluenosed, buckram, censorious, ceremonial,
ceremonious, chipper, conventional, correct, decorous, demure,
formal, genteel, hidebound, in buckram, mid-Victorian, narrow,
neat, nice, old-maidish, orderly, overmodest, precise, prig,
priggish, prissy, proper, prudish, puritanical, rigid,
sanctimonious, shipshape, smug, snug, spick-and-span, starch,
starched, stiff, stiff-necked, stilted, straight, straitlaced,
stuffy, tidy, trim, uncluttered, well-groomed, wooden