priggism means the quality or state of being priggish; the manners of a prig; exaggerated propriety, fussiness about trivialities. It carries an Arena rating of 1303, earned across 3 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, priggism ranks #1,099 of 13,220 for Funniest Words, #1,122 of 13,220 for Most Incisive Words, #2,775 of 13,220 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #3,067 of 13,220 for Most Satisfying to Say.
Why “priggism” is a great word
A smug, fussy, and self-righteously moral insistence on propriety, especially in trivial matters. From prig, a word of obscure origin whose meaning evolved from ‘thief’ to ‘a fussy or self-righteously moral person,’ combined with the suffix -ism, forming a noun of action or state; it was first recorded in 1743 by Henry Fielding. Unlike pedantry, which is an ostentatious preoccupation with formal rules of knowledge, or sanctimony, which implies a hollow, hypocritical piety, priggism denotes a genuine, often exasperating, fastidiousness about behavioral codes. It is the scrupulous realignment of a crooked picture in another’s house, the audible sigh at a misplaced dinner fork, and the precise, cold click of a lock turned at the exact hour stipulated by the household rules—a minor tyranny of manners that mistakes the map for the territory.
Etymology
From prig + -ism.
noun
- The quality or state of being priggish; the manners of a prig; exaggerated propriety, fussiness about trivialities.“Earl Grey is an elegant man in his person; and his usual dress is tight and trim, bordering upon priggism.”
- Roguery; thievery.“1743, Henry Fielding, The Life and Death of Jonathan Wild, the Great (published as Miscellanies, Volume 3), London: A. Millar, 2nd edition, Book 4, Chapter 3, p. 309,
Now, Gentlemen, when we are no longer Prigs, we shall no longer have these Fears or these Desires. What remains, therefore, for us, but to resolve bravely to lay aside our Priggism, our Roguery, in plainer Words, and preserve our Lib”
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