Privet
intj, noun, slang ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 Any of various shrubs and small trees in the genus Ligustrum. countable, uncountable
"Slowly she turned round and faced towards a neat white bungalow, set some way back from the path behind a low hedge of golden privet. No light showed, but someone there was playing the piano. The strange elusiveness of the soft, insistent melody seemed to draw her forward."
- 2 any of various Old World shrubs having smooth entire leaves and terminal panicles of small white flowers followed by small black berries; many used for hedges wordnet
- 1 Hello, hi. informal
Example
More examples"Slowly she turned round and faced towards a neat white bungalow, set some way back from the path behind a low hedge of golden privet. No light showed, but someone there was playing the piano. The strange elusiveness of the soft, insistent melody seemed to draw her forward."
Etymology
Unknown origin, but possibly connected to prime.
From Russian приве́т (privét, “hello, hi”).
Related phrases
More for "privet"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.