prissy

[ pris-ee ]

adjective

, pris·si·er, pris·si·est.

1. excessively proper; affectedly correct; prim.

prissy

/ ˈprɪsɪ /

adjective

1. fussy and prim, esp in a prudish way

Derived Forms

• ˈprissily, adverb
• ˈprissiness, noun

Other Words From

• prissi·ly adverb
• prissi·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of prissy¹

1890–95, Americanism; blend of prim ¹ and sissy

Word History and Origins

Origin of prissy¹

C20: probably from prim + sissy

Example Sentences

Spears also played basketball in school and worked at a seafood restaurant cleaning shellfish and serving plates of food “while doing my prissy dancing in my cute little outfits,” the singer wrote.

From Los Angeles Times

Despite her San Francisco pedigree, Feinstein was despised by many on the political left, who found her personally too prissy and politically too centrist.

From Los Angeles Times

He disparages “the global diplomatic system” as anachronistic, prissy, overpopulated.

From Washington Post

Harry, too, is Dickensian, but more like one of Dickens’s monstrous, red-eyed lawyers: He is cruel, peremptory and, with his dyed hair and prissy bow tie, dandyish in his self-regard.

From New York Times

UIC’s prissy bullies, like fanatics generally, have no sense of irony.

From Washington Post

Related Words

• prudish
• squeamish