Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.

Prim

Definition: Prim

Prim

Adjective

1. Affectedly dainty or refined.

2. Exaggeratedly proper; "my straitlaced Aunt Anna doesn't approve of my miniskirts".

Verb

1. Assume a prim appearance: "They mince and prim".

2. Contract one's lips; "She primmed her lips after every bite of food".

3. Dress primly.

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Date "prim" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1615. (references)

Note: Prim \Prim\, transitive verb. [imperfect & past participle. Primmed; Primming.]. (Websters 1913)


Abbreviations & Acronyms: Prim

The following table is compiled from various sources, across various languages. When English abbreviations or acronyms come from a non-English source, this is noted.
EntrySourceExpressionField

prim

EnglishPrimaryN/A

Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

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Synonyms: Prim

Synonyms: dainty (adj), mincing (adj), niminy-piminy (adj), priggish (adj), prissy (adj), prudish (adj), puritanical (adj), square-toed (adj), straightlaced (adj), straitlaced (adj), tight-laced (adj), twee (adj), victorian (adj), prim out (v), prim up (v). (additional references)

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Synonyms within Context: Prim

ContextSynonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus).

Affectation

Stiff, starch, formal, prim, smug, demure, tire a quatre epingles, quakerish, puritanical, prudish, pragmatical, priggish, conceited, coxcomical, foppish, dandified; finical, finikin; mincing, simpering, namby-pamby, sentimental.

Pride

Stiff, stiff-necked; starch; perked stuck-up; in buckram, strait-laced; prim; (affected).

Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus.

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Crosswords: Prim

English words defined with "prim": MissishPrimmed, Primming. (references)
Specialty definitions using "prim": Neat as a PinSalchichon, STARCHED. (references)
Etymologies containing "prim": Primp, Privet. (references)
Non-English Usage: "Prim" is also a word in the following languages with English translations in parentheses.

Albanian (premium, prime), Catalan (gaunt, lean, slender, thin), German (prime), Occitan (thin), Romanian (early, first, foremost, front, fundamental, initial, maiden, one, original, premier, primal, prime), Swedish (prime), Turkish (bonus, bounty, contango, premium).

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Modern Usage: Prim

DomainUsage

Movie/TV Titles

The Private World of Miss Prim (1966)

Prim (1930)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Commercial Usage: Prim

DomainTitle

References

  • Prim, S.A.: International Competitive Benchmarks and Financial Gap Analysis (reference)

    (more reference examples)

  

Books

  • Morningstar Mutual Fund Report: Legg Mason American Leading Co Prim [DOWNLOAD: PDF] (reference)

  • Prim and Improper (Harlequin Historical, No 410) (reference)

  • Prim Rose [DOWNLOAD: ADOBE READER] (reference)

  • Prim Source Supp-World History Vol 2 Sin (reference)

    (more book examples)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Image Slideshow: Prim

Illustrations:
Prim

More pictures...

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Photo Album: Prim

ThumbnailDescription & Credit

Johann Jacob Baier : Medic. Doct. et Prof. Prim. Aldorf. Reip. Norib. Physicus. Credit: National Library of Medicine.

Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

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Usage Frequency: Prim

"Prim" is generally used as an adjective (general or positive) -- approximately 97.54% of the time. "Prim" is used about 122 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted)
Parts of SpeechPercentUsage per
100 Million Words
Rank in English
Adjective (general or positive)97.54%11929,501
Unclassified Items2.46%3202,518
                    Total100.00%122N/A

Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.

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Name Usage Frequency: Prim

The following table summarizes the usage of "prim" based on a population census conducted in the United States. Ranks and frequencies are based on all names reported and classified.
NameUsage/GenderUsage per 100
million Persons
Rank in USA
PrimLast name1,00017,602
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.

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Cities: Prim


1. Prim, AR
Zip Code(s): 72130
Country: USA

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Expressions: Prim

Expressions using "prim": prim and proper prim one's face prim one's lips prim oneself up prim out prim up prim up one's mouth. Additional references.

Hyphenated Usage

Beginning with "prim": prim-faced, prim-looking.

Ending with "prim": common-prim, over-prim.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Frequency of Internet Keywords: Prim

The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com.
 
ExpressionFrequency
per Day
ExpressionFrequency
per Day

prim

94

dritz prim

3

prim ar

15

ed.com prim

3

nevada prim

13

77 algorithm fortran prim

3

prim rose

12

auction prim

3

mart prim

9

gary prim

3

prim r

8

massachusetts prim

3

america prim

7

evening prim rose oil

2

prim hotel

7

evening prim rose

2

graphic prim

6

hall prim

2

prim valley

6

ed prim

2

algoritmo de prim

6

algoritmo prim

2

prim rate

6

hotel prim mexico city

2

prim resort valley

5

miss prim

2

metroid prim

4

algorithm prim

2

nv prim

4

prim rose oil

2

outlet prim

3

comptoir de famille le prim stoneware style

2

mass prim

3

ajutor prim

2

best by country gone list powered prim pro site site

3

dj lydia prim

2
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Modern Translation: Prim

Language Translations for "prim"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.

Albanian

  

qibar (fastidious), i ngrirë (congealed, dull, freezing, frost-bound, frosted, frozen, glace, glassy, lame, numb, starchy, stiff, stilted), i karfosur. (various references)

   

Arabic 

  

‏متزمت (austere, pi, puritan, puritanical, rigid, rigorous, severe, stick in the mud, strict), ‏تصنع (affectation, attitudinize, industrialize, make up, mannerism, mummery, pose, pretend), ‏تدلل (coquet, flirt, flirtation), ‏عتيق (age-old, ancient, fossil, hoary, musty, old, old fashioned, out of date, passe, superannuated, time honored, time worn, used), ‏انيق (smart). (various references)

   

Bulgarian 

  

старомомински (niminy-piminy, old-maidish), спретнат (dapper, dinky, rakish, sailorly, smart, smug, snug, tidy, tight, tricksy, trig, trim, well groomed), надуто коректен, надуто официален, прекалено морален, превзет (affected, cute, flamboyant, fussy, glossy, histrionic, lackadaisical, mannered, mincing, minikin, namby-pamby, nice, niminy-piminy, old-maidish, pansy, precious, pretentious, pretty, pretty-pretty, priggish, prissy, pseudo, recherche, schoolmistressy, sidy, snobbish, stuffy), подреждам най-грижливо, подреден (in good order, neat, orderly, tidy, tight, trim, well arranged), държа се като стара мома, държа се превзето (mince). (various references)

   

Chinese 

  

呆板. (various references)

   

Czech

  

pedantský (donnish, finicky, fussy, hairsplitting, meticulous, pedantic), přepjatý (exalted, extreme, genteel), ostýchavý (backward, bashful, coy, demure, diffident, self conscious, shamefaced, shy), formální (formal, punctilious, staid). (various references)

   

Farsi 

  

یاسم , نوارابیض , تمیز (Clean, Dapper, Dinky, Neat, Pure, Scrubby), خیلی محتاط (Ultraconservative), خودراگرفتن (Perk), اراستن (Apparel, Arrange, Array, Attire, Brave, Clothe, Embroider, Equip, Grace, Groom, Habit, Illustrate, Line, Perk, Pretty, Primp, Prune, Range, Rank, Stud, Tidy, Trim), رسمی وخشک بودن , رسمی وخشک , برگ نو. (various references)

   

French

  

trop coquet, très convenable, se guinder, guindé, correct (proper), coqueter, contraint, compassé, collet monté. (various references)

   

German

  

spröde (aloof, austere, brittle, demure, obdurate, recalcitrant, reserved, rigid, rough, stiff), ordentlich (fairly, full, neat, neatly, orderly, proper, properly, real, reasonable, regular, reputable, respectable, seemily, seemy, tidily, tidy, trim, uncluttered, unruffled), geziert (adorned, affected, simpering, simperingly, stilted). (various references)

   

Greek 

  

κομψόσ (bijou, chic, comely, dainty, dapper, debonair, dressy, elegant, fancy, fine, jaunty, natty, neat, nifty, posh, pretty, quaint, rakish, smart, spark plug, sparkish, spiffy, stylish, trig, trim, well groomed), στολίζω (adorn, array, attire, beautify, bespangle, caparison, deck, decorate, doll, doll up, embellish, garnish, ornament, perk, prank, primp, prink, titivate, tog, trim), στολίζομαι (doll, dress up, preen oneself, prink, titivate, tog, tog up), περιποιημένοσ (natty, trim), επιτηδευμένοσ (meretricious), λεπτολόγοσ (caviller, discriminating, finicky, meticulous, particular, pernickety, scrupulous, squeamish), τυπικόσ (ceremonial, ceremonious, conventional, formal, modal, perfunctory, starched, typical). (various references)

   

Hebrew 

  

מעומלן (starched, starchy, stiffened), מצט ע (demure, prudish), "ק"ק י (meticulous, punctilious, scrupulous). (various references)

   

Hungarian

  

pedáns (meticulous, painstaking, pedantic, smug), kimért (dry, reserved, rigid, severe, stand-off, stiff, stringent, tempered, undemonstrative). (various references)

   

Indonesian

  

rapi (efficient, orderly, presentable, snug), genit (firtatious, missish, prudish, vain). (various references)

   

Italian

  

formale (formal, formally, punctiliously, token), compassato (formal, staid, stiff), cerimonioso (ceremonious, courtly, formal), affettato (affected, assumed, Dandy, euphuistic, finical, foppish, genteel, labored, laboured, mincing, niminy-piminy, pretty-pretty, prissy, sliced). (various references)

   

Japanese Kanji 

  

澄ます (look prim, put on airs, to be unruffled, to clear, to look demure, to look unconcerned, to make clear). (various references)

   

Japanese Katakana 

  

すます (look prim, put on airs, to be unruffled, to clear, to conclude, to finish, to get along, to get it over with, to look demure, to look unconcerned, to make clear, to pay back, to settle), すましや (a prim person), おすまし (a prim and proper girl). (various references)

   

Manx

  

mettey (boneless, delicate, faint-hearted, shaky, soft, supine, tender, weak-minded, yellow), dendeaysagh (dainty, delicate, effeminate, effeminate man, fastidious, small eater). (various references)

   

Pig Latin

  

impray

   

Portuguese

  

formalista (formal, formalist, precisian, punctilious, sententious, square-toes, starchy), exibir modos afetados, empertigado (perky, starchy), cerimonioso (ceremonious, formal, solemn, starchy), afetado (affected, bijou, conceited, coxcombical, dandified, dollish, far-fetched, finical, foppish, forced, fulsome, mannered, miminy-piminy, niminy-piminy, pompous, precious, pretentious, scenic, scenical, smug, stilted, theatrical, wiredrawn). (various references)

   

Romanian

  

pretenţios (affected, cavilling, choosey, exacting, exigent, fastidious, finical, important, inkhorn, particular, pretentious, puffy, sophomoric), schimonosi (contort, corrupt, deform, disfigure), nãzuros (dainty, fastidious, humoursome, picky, self willed), formal (express, formal, formally, formulary, modal, official, scholastic, solemn, stiff), aranjat (concerted, ensconced, settled, snug, solved, tidy, trim, well arranged), îngrijit (accurate, accurately, beautiful, careful, clean, correct, groomed, neat, neatly, orderly, tidy, trim, well groomed). (various references)

   

Russian 

  

аккуратный (accurate, exact, meticulous, natty, neat, on time, orderly, precise, prompt, punctual, spruce, tidy, trim), принимать строгий вид. (various references)

   

Serbo-Croatian

  

preterano uredan, uspijati se, ukočen (numb, stiff, stodgy, torpid), afektiran (kittenish, mannered). (various references)

   

Spanish

  

remilgado (demure, mincing, old-maidish, prissy, prude, squeamish), recatado (cautions, coy, demure, gingerly, maidenly), forzado (coercible, drafted, enforced, forced, forcible, sickly, strained), estirado (drawn, extended, formal, pompous, Sniffy, starchy, stiff, stiff necked, stretched, stretched tight, stuck up, tense, tight, tight-fisted, vain). (various references)

   

Swedish

  

stel (fixed, formal, frigid, hard, numb, rigid, set, starchy, stark, stiff, torpid, wooden), prudentlig (smug), korrekt (correct, correcting, correctly, decorous, just, right). (various references)

   

Turkish

  

resmi davranmak (stand on ceremony), kuralcı, aşırı resmi (niminy-piminy, unbending), aşırı düzenli, aşırı ciddi (as stiff as a ramrod), çok ciddi davranmak. (various references)

   

Turkmen 

  

eljiremek (be prim, mince). (various references)

   

Ukrainian

  

набирати строгого вигляду, напружений (arduous, chilly, constrained, eager, high pressure, hot, stiff, strained, stressful, strung, sulfurous, sulphurous, tensional, tight, wrought up), манірний (affected, angular, ceremonious, donnish, finical, lackadaisical, mannered, mincing, minikin, namby-pamby, niminy-piminy, offish, prudish, smug, starchy), бирючина (privet), педантичний (donnish, dryasdust, meticulous, notional, pedantic, pedantical, pernickety, persnickety, precise, priggish, punctilious, square-toed). (various references)

   

Vietnamese 

  

ra vẻ nghiêm nghị; ra vẻ đoan trang, ra vẻ đứng đắn, lên mặt đạo đức. (various references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

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Ancestral Language Translations: Prim

LanguagePeriodTranslations
Latin500 BCE-Modern

primus. (various references)

Old French900-1400

prim. (various references)

French1500-Modern

prim. (various references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

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Derivations & Misspellings: Prim

Derivations

Words beginning with "prim": prima, primacies, primacy, primage, primages, primal, primalities, primality, primaries, primarily, primary, primas, primatal, primatals, primate, primates, primateship, primateships, primatial, primatological, primatologies, primatologist, primatologists, primatology, primavera, prime, primed, primely, primeness, primenesses, primer, primero, primeros, primers, primes, primeval, primevally, primi, primine, primines, priming, primings, primipara, primiparae, primiparas, primiparous, primitive, primitively, primitiveness, primitivenesses, primitives. (additional references)

Words ending with "prim": trimethoprim. (additional references)

Words containing "prim": imprimatur, imprimaturs, imprimis, postprimary, preprimary, reprimand, reprimanded, reprimanding, reprimands, subprimate, subprimates, trimethoprims, unprimed. (additional references)


Misspellings

"Prim" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: cpim, irim, Krim, parmi, peram, perin, phim, phrum, pim, pir, pirim, Pirin, pirm, Plim, plimm, poim, prah, praik, pramm, pream, preem, prelm, prem, prema, pren, pri, pria, priam, prib, pric, priem, prij, prik, pril, primi, primk, primt, prin, Prinn, prip, prit, priv, priw, priz, prizm, Prmi, Prohm, prsi, prum, prun, prym, pryn, purrim, pyrum, wrim. (additional references)

Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

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Rhyming with "Prim"

# of Phoneme MatchesPronunciationWord(s) rhyming with "prim" (pronounced pri"m)
3-r i" mbrim, grim, rim, trim.

Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

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Anagrams: Prim

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

Words within the letters "i-m-p-r"

-1 letter: imp, mir, rim, rip.

-2 letters: mi, pi.

 Words containing the letters "i-m-p-r"
 

+1 letter: crimp, prima, prime, primi, primo, primp, prims, prism.

 

+2 letters: armpit, crimps, crimpy, empire, epimer, impair, impark, impart, import, improv, impure, jimper, limper, mopier, permit, porism, prelim, premie, premix, primal, primas, primed, primer, primes, primly, primos, primps, primus, prisms, purism, rimple, scrimp, shrimp, simper, spirem, umpire.

 

+3 letters: armpits, bimorph, bumpier, campier, crampit, crimped, crimper, crimple, demirep, dimorph, dumpier, empires, empiric, emporia, emprise, emprize, emptier, epiderm, epigram, epimere, epimers, gimpier, gripman, gripmen, hempier, humpier, impairs, impaler, imparks, imparts, impearl, impeder, imperia, imperil, implore, imports, imposer, impower, impregn, impresa, imprese, impress, imprest, imprint, improve, improvs, imputer, jumpier, lempira, limpers, lumpier, meropia, meropic, mispart, morphia, morphic, morphin, palmier, perming, permits, pilgrim, pinworm, pismire, plumier, porisms, preemie, prelims, premier, premies, premise, premiss, premium, premixt, pretrim, primacy, primage, primary, primate, primely, primero, primers, primine, priming, primmed, primmer, primped, primsie, primula, promine, promise, protium, proximo, pumicer, purisms, pyramid, rampike, ramping, rampion, rimpled, rimples, romping, rompish, scrimps, scrimpy, semipro, shrimps, shrimpy, simpers, simpler, spermic, spireme, spirems, spumier, triumph, tropism, umpired, umpires, vampire, whimper, wimpier.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.

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Alternative Orthography: Prim


Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)

50 72 69 6D

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)

American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)

=

Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)

Braille (1829, in France) (references)

Morse Code (1836) (references)

.--.    .-.    ..    --

Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)

Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)

01010000 01110010 01101001 01101101

HTML Code (1990) (references)

&#80 &#114 &#105 &#109

ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)

0050 0072 0069 006D

British Sign Language (Fingerspelling, BSL; 1992, British Deaf Association Dictionary of British Sign Language) (references)

Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)

50847579

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INDEX

1. Definition
2. Synonyms
3. Crosswords
4. Usage: Modern
5. Usage: Commercial
6. Images: Slideshow
7. Images: Photo Album
8. Usage Frequency
9. Names: Frequency
10. Cities
11. Expressions
12. Expressions: Internet
13. Translations: Modern
14. Translations: Ancient
15. Abbreviations
16. Acronyms
17. Derivations
18. Rhymes
19. Anagrams
20. Orthography
21. Bibliography


  

Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.