priggeryn.
/ˈprɪɡ(ə)ri/, U.S. /ˈprɪɡəri/ The behaviour or conduct of a prig (prig n.3 4a).
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > affected behaviour or affectation > [noun] > affected propriety
prudery1708
primness1713
priggery1743
priggism1753
prudishness1760
priggishness1768
missishness1839
missiness1857
prigdom1873
prudity1891
Comstockery1905
prighood1906
nice nellyism1933
prissiness1934
1743 H. Fielding Jonathan Wild iii. vi, in Misc. III. 224 He said, he was sorry to see any of his Gang guilty of a Breach of Honour; that without Honour Priggery was at an End.
1850 S. Judd Philo 68 Indeed, there is no truth or right, But only flams, and priggery, and clink Of brazen pots.
1886 Sat. Rev. 10 Apr. 518/2 The Bayard of India did enough good work to make all right~minded men ready to forget his self-righteousness and (to use plain language) his priggery.
1886 D. Hannay Adm. Blake (1888) i. 9 There was hypocrisy and spite and acrid priggery on the side of the Parliament.
1921 Sat. Westm. Gaz. 12 Feb. 18/1 A finely drawn character..just escaping the charge of priggery by a genuinely noble outlook upon his duties.
1933 D. Thomas Let. Feb. (1987) 12 When I look back over what I have written, I feel conscious that there is a terrible lot of priggery in it—intellectual & emotional priggery.
1987 Times Lit. Suppl. 17 July 760/2 He and Mencken griped ceaselessly about the power of American priggery.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1743