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prissy

/ˈpɹɪsi/adjective, noun

prissy is an adjective meaning “Prim and fussy; too precise; overparticular” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled P-R-I-S-S-Y and has 2 syllables, and it appears about once in every 5 million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data, counting Prissy, the name).

What does prissy mean?

adjective

  1. 1

    colloquialPrim and fussy; too precise; overparticular.

  2. 2

    colloquialderogatoryLacking masculine vigor; sissified; effeminate.

  3. 3

    colloquialWell-mannered; well-behaved.

noun

  1. 1

    colloquialrareA person who is prissy.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you pronounce prissy?

  • /ˈpɹɪsi/

Prissy has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-prissy.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of prissy

  • prissier comparative
  • prissiest superlative
  • prissies plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How common is prissy?

Prissy appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 63,645th most frequent word form in the list. The list counts every capitalisation together, so this includes Prissy, the name.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

Prissy in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Germanzimperlich, überkorrekt, spießig (prim and fussy), brav, bieder (well-behaved, well-mannered)
Spanishremilgado, finolis, repipi, finoli (prim and fussy), caballero (well-behaved, well-mannered)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does prissy come from?

1895, either an alteration of precise, blend of prim + sissy, or a blend of prim + fussy; first attested in a work of American writer Joel Chandler Harris.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).