Synonyms

priggish

American

[prig-ish] / ˈprɪg ɪʃ /

adjective

fussy about trivialities or propriety, especially in a self-righteous or irritating manner.

At the beginning of the book, Eustace is an unpleasant, unlikable, and priggish character.
He never softened his message to please genteel tastes or priggish scruples.

Other Word Forms

priggishly adverb
priggishness noun
unpriggish adjective

Etymology

Origin of priggish

prig ¹ ( def. ) + -ish ¹

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Frank Burns, the priggish Army doctor who was obsessed with nurse “Hot Lips” Houlihan in “MASH,” Duvall specialized in tightly wound tough guys.

From Los Angeles Times

At its worst, Orange County appears to be nouveau-riche snobbish, insecure, artificially flavored and colored, vapid, priggish and drearily sanitized.

From Los Angeles Times

Isabel, unmarried, priggish and devoted to her housekeeping routine, lives alone in her family’s home, ostensibly keeping it safe for the brother who inherited it.

From Los Angeles Times

It was hardly the first role that allowed him to explore fussy or priggish characters.

From New York Times

Forgetting that he’d ever been way behind the fashion curve, he was appalled, in some priggish, nouveau riche kind of way, that certain passengers appeared in the dining room in slacks and sneakers.

From Literature

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023