Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A person who demonstrates an exaggerated conformity or propriety, especially in an irritatingly arrogant or smug manner.
- noun A petty thief or pickpocket.
- noun A conceited dandy; a fop.
- transitive verb To steal or pilfer.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A thief.
- To filch or steal.
- To cheapen; haggle about.
- To plead hard; haggle.
- To dress up; adorn; prink. Compare
prick , 9. - noun A conceited, narrow-minded, pragmatical person; a dull, precise person.
- noun A coxcomb; a dandy.
- noun A small pitcher.
- noun A small brass skillet.
- To ride.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A pert, conceited, pragmatical fellow.
- noun Cant A thief; a filcher.
- transitive verb Scot. To cheapen.
- transitive verb Cant To filch or steal.
- intransitive verb Prov. Eng. & Scot. To haggle about the price of a commodity; to bargain hard.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb Scotland To
haggle orargue over price. - noun A person who demonstrates an exaggerated
conformity orpropriety , especially in an irritatinglyarrogant orsmug manner. - noun UK A petty thief or
pickpocket - noun archaic A conceited
dandy ; afop .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a person regarded as arrogant and annoying
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word prig.
Examples
-
Your true prig is always self-conscious, but Edward was not at all self-conscious.
The Fire Within 1913
-
"And a plain prig my nephew Edward," continued the old gentleman.
The Fire Within 1913
-
Lord E. 's "prig" -- see Jonathan Wild for the definition of
The Works of Lord Byron. Vol. 2 George Gordon Byron Byron 1806
-
He does not hesitate to make his champion a prig, which is exactly what a youth so idolised by his family would be likely to become.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 159, 1920-09-08 Various
-
"A prig is a handsome fellow born to create disturbance among the ladies."
Lippincott's Magazine, Vol. 22, November, 1878 of Popular Literature and Science Various
-
When, however, I thought over what she had said I was not so pleased, for I began to see that if the summer was to be splendid and I was not to be called a prig I must give up the idea of taking her to the
Godfrey Marten, Undergraduate Charles Turley 1904
-
A prig is a tedious individual who, having made a discovery, is so impressed by his discovery that he is capable of being gravely displeased because the entire world is not also impressed by it.
How to Live on 24 Hours a Day Arnold Bennett 1899
-
A prig is a pompous fool who has gone out for a ceremonial walk, and without knowing it has lost an important part of his attire, namely, his sense of humour.
How to Live on 24 Hours a Day Arnold Bennett 1899
-
Now a prig is a pert fellow who gives himself airs of superior wisdom.
How to Live on 24 Hours a Day Arnold Bennett 1899
-
That he was what we should nowadays call a prig we know, and also that he possessed his father's, Montalvo's, readiness of speech without his father's sense of humour.
Lysbeth, a Tale of the Dutch Henry Rider Haggard 1890
yarb commented on the word prig
He is a young barrister, with more of the prig than the lawyer about him.
- Lesage, The Adventures of Gil Blas of Santillane, tr. Smollett, bk 7 ch. 13
October 2, 2008
RevBrently commented on the word prig
From p. 83 of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby: "Angry as I was, as we all were, I was tempted to laugh whenever he opened his mouth. The transition from libertine to prig was so complete."
September 29, 2012