Advertisement

Advertisement

schoolmarm

[ skool-mahrm ]

noun

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


schoolmarm

/ 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
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Discover More

Derived Forms

  • ˈschoolˌmarmish, adjective
Discover More

Other Words From

  • schoolmarmish adjective
Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of schoolmarm1

1835–45, Americanism; variant of schoolma'am
Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of schoolmarm1

C19: from school 1+ marm, variant of ma'am . See madam
Discover More

Example Sentences

She earned her Oscars playing the unconventional schoolmarm in “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” and a brittle movie star in “California Suite” in the 1970s.

I raise these concerns about progressive babble not as some sort of fussy schoolmarm.

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

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

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

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement


schoolmanschoolmaster