Īlso compare prim, primp, prank, prink "make an ostentatious display dress with pretty ornaments" (1570s) "walk affectedly or daintily" (1690s). Click on a word to view the definitions, meanings and to find alternative variations of that word including similar beginnings and endings. On the whole, one may, perhaps, say that all his different characteristics come from the combination, in varying proportions, of three things-the desire to do his duty, the belief that he knows better than other people, & blindness to the difference in value between different things. cracks nuts with a steam hammer: that is, calls in the first principles of morality to decide whether he may, or must, do something of as little importance as drinking a glass of beer. A p is wise beyond his years in all the things that do not matter. To fix (the face or mouth) in a prim expression. Prim and Proper: First Things First The Latin root word prim which means first is an important contributor to the English language. ![]() In Middle English a prig was a kind of small nail used in roofing or tiling (14c.), perhaps from prick. The highest scoring Scrabble word containing Prim is Primitively, which is worth at least 21 points without any bonuses. Precise or proper to the point of affectation excessively decorous. Century Dictionary speculates the modern word is "perhaps a later application (of the "thief" sense) in the general sense, among "the profession," of 'a smart fellow.' " Also compare thieves' cant prig "a tinker" (1560s). 1600 in forms prigger, prigman recorded from 1560s). It could be related to earlier appearances of the same word meaning "a dandy, coxcomb, fop" (1670s), "thief" (c. "a conceited, narrow-minded pragmatical person a dull, precise person one who cultivates or affects propriety and offends or bores others," 1753, originally in reference to theological scruples (1704), a word of unknown origin.
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