Priggism
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 The quality or state of being priggish; the manners of a prig; exaggerated propriety, fussiness about trivialities. uncountable, usually
"Earl Grey is an elegant man in his person; and his usual dress is tight and trim, bordering upon priggism."
- 2 Roguery; thievery. obsolete, uncountable, usually
"1743, Henry Fielding, The Life and Death of Jonathan Wild, the Great (published as Miscellanies, Volume 3), London: A. Millar, 2nd edition, Book 4, Chapter 3, p. 309, Now, Gentlemen, when we are no longer Prigs, we shall no longer have these Fears or these Desires. What remains, therefore, for us, but to resolve bravely to lay aside our Priggism, our Roguery, in plainer Words, and preserve our Liberty, or to give up the latter in the Preservation and Preference of the former."
Example
More examples"Earl Grey is an elegant man in his person; and his usual dress is tight and trim, bordering upon priggism."
Etymology
From prig + -ism.
More for "priggism"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.