# prim

> English word · Adjective · IPA /pɹɪm/ · frequency rank #34,235

## Definitions
1. Of a person, their manner or appearance: Formal and precise; stiffly decorous.
2. Of a person: Prudish; straight-laced.
3. Of things: Neat; trim.

## Etymology
Of uncertain origin.
In the verb sense, first appeared in Thomas D'Urfey's A Fool's Preferment in the year 1688.
In the noun sense, first appeared in A New Dictionary of the Terms Ancient and Modern of the Canting Crew in the year 1699, meaning "prig." Now obsolete.
In the adjective sense, first appeared in Sir Richard Steele's The Funeral in the year 1702, meaning "consciously or affectedly strict or precise; stiffly formal and respectable."
Oxford English Dictionary proposed a relation with primp and prink. Chiefly Scottish and U.S.

## Easily confused with
- **pro** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/prim-vs-pro)
- **psi** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/prim-vs-psi)
- **pry** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/prim-vs-pry)
- **PRS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/prim-vs-prs)
- **pros** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/prim-vs-pros)
- **prom** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/prim-vs-prom)
- **prop** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/prim-vs-prop)
- **prob** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/prim-vs-prob)
- **prod** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/prim-vs-prod)
- **proc** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/prim-vs-proc)
- **prog** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/prim-vs-prog)
- **Puig** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/prim-vs-puig)
- **puri** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/prim-vs-puri)
- **Prot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/prim-vs-prot)
- **prior** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/prim-vs-prior)
- **prime** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/prim-vs-prime)
- **prize** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/prim-vs-prize)
- **print** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/prim-vs-print)
- **promo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/prim-vs-promo)
- **privy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/prim-vs-privy)

## Common misspellings (6)
`pirm`, `pprim`, `primm`, `prmi`, `prrim`, `rpim`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/prim