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prim

adjective · verb

Simple meaning

Their way or appearance: Formal and precise.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

prim
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈpɹɪm

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

adjective

  1. Of a person, their manner or appearance: Formal and precise; stiffly decorous.

  2. Of things: Neat; trim.

verb

  1. transitive

    To give a prim or demure expression to (one's face, mouth, or (rare) lips).

  2. transitive

    To dress (one) up affectedly or demurely. [with up or out]

  3. Dress primly

  4. intransitive

    To make one's expression prim. [with up]

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C1 · Advanced (estimated)
Frequency
Uncommon
Typical Use
Primarily written

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

rather primprim healthprim mouthprim voiceprim woman

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • primernounInflected form

    An introductory textbook.

  • primingnounInflected form

    The act of making something ready.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • primaryadjectiveDerived adjective

    Related to Of a person, their manner or appearance: Formal and precise.

  • primarilyadverbDerived adverb

    For the most part.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • primer coatnounCompound term

    The first or preliminary coat of paint or size applied to a surface.

  • priming coatnounCompound term

    The first or preliminary coat of paint or size applied to a surface.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: of a person or their manner or appearance

properrefinedpuritanical

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.