1
as in tidy
being clean and in good order
behind the bed-and-breakfast is a prim little garden where guests are served afternoon tea
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in Victorian
given to or marked by very conservative standards regarding personal behavior or morals
a very prim and proper matron was in charge of the girls' dorm
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of prim
Most interesting is Cane’s prim and proper wife, Peyton (Danielle Campbell).
—
Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 19 June 2025
Goygol includes 65,000 residents, prim parks, tall pines and occasional Tyrolean architecture.
—Tom Mullen, Forbes.com, 11 May 2025
The people who insist on making sense speak in small, prim voices, trusting their listeners to understand subtleties of tone.
—Vinson Cunningham, New Yorker, 5 May 2025
So the email contained a simple question: Was William a distant relative of Hester Leggatt, a prim secretary who appears in the musical and played a key role in the plot?
—Alex Marshall, New York Times, 26 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for prim
Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 19 June 2025
Goygol includes 65,000 residents, prim parks, tall pines and occasional Tyrolean architecture.
—Tom Mullen, Forbes.com, 11 May 2025
The people who insist on making sense speak in small, prim voices, trusting their listeners to understand subtleties of tone.
—Vinson Cunningham, New Yorker, 5 May 2025
So the email contained a simple question: Was William a distant relative of Hester Leggatt, a prim secretary who appears in the musical and played a key role in the plot?
—Alex Marshall, New York Times, 26 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for prim
Recent Examples of Synonyms for prim
Adjective
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It’s located right next to the Sandbox in a tidy food truck but packs a big punch.—
Jeff Goudy,
Forbes.com,
10 July 2025
-
Into that void steps AI: tidy, responsive, nonjudgmental.—
Kelly Monahan,
Fortune,
9 July 2025
Adjective
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The Fraud by Zadie Smith With her latest novel, Smith uses a Victorian setting to probe the relationship between England and colonial Jamaica.—
Mia Barzilay Freund,
Vogue,
7 July 2025
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Old leaky underground pipes are causing a crisis The U.K. has some of the oldest water systems in the world, with parts of the network still dating back to the Victorian era.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
7 July 2025
Adjective
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The pair both feature a bespoke red leather by Connolly trim, which matches rather well with the features of the recording space; the duo is also hand-finished in vintage walnut, inspired by the various instruments that have graced the studio throughout the decades.—
Nicole Hoey,
Robb Report,
2 July 2025
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Nissan Rogue and Nissan Pathfinder discounts range from $670 to a whopping $1,930 depending on the trim level.—
Charles Singh,
The Tennessean,
2 July 2025
Adjective
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For Max in particular, his parent’s lifelong humorless severity looks more and more like malevolent delusion under a cloak of puritanical righteousness.—
Dennis Harvey,
Variety,
11 July 2025
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At a moment when puritanical forces in this country are actively trying to deny Americans the freedom to be themselves, that’s radical enough.—
Simon Vozick-Levinson,
Rolling Stone,
25 June 2025
Adjective
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Draper, up 30–love against Báez, sent a forehand into the corner that was so neat in its curve, so complete in its unanswerableness, that the crowd was very briefly silenced altogether.—
Sam Knight,
New Yorker,
12 July 2025
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Especially to be thought of at the level of an All-Star is pretty neat.—
Cody Stavenhagen,
New York Times,
11 July 2025
Adjective
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An orderly Italian known for his precision and Alpine reserve against a passionate Spaniard.—
Louisa Thomas,
New Yorker,
29 June 2025
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The streets were clean, well lit, and—traffic aside—surprisingly orderly.—
Kian Tajbakhsh,
The Atlantic,
27 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Prim.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/prim. Accessed 19 Jul. 2025.
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