mimp

mimp noun: a pursing of the lips.

Noun

mimp (plural mimps)

A pursing of the lips.
- Sure you muſt have obſerved the drop of the under lip is exploded ſince Lady Simpermode broke a tooth—(Sets her mouth affectedly)—I am preparing the caſt of the lips for the enſuing winter—thus—It is to be call’d the Paphian mimp.1786, John Burgoyne, The Heiress. A Comedy in Five Acts, page 37
- The Paphian mimp was a certain pucker of the lips considered needful for the highly genteel.1948, Gil Meynier, Stranger at the Door, page 12

mimp (third-person singular simple present mimps, present participle mimping, simple past and past participle mimped)

To purse one’s lips.
- The Beaux alter’d Creatures,
  Now mimp up their Features,
  And trip it, and trip it ſo pretty; […]1755, H. Woodward, The Comic Tunes and Songs in the Entertainment Call’d Proteus, or Harlequin in China
- When firſt ſhe emerged from retirement, it was natural ſhe ſhould feel ſhy and embarraſſed, which always appeared by a certain mimping with her mouth; afterwards ſhe thought it becoming , and improved upon it: It was ſo univerſally adopted by the young Ladies of the ton, that I think it incumbent...1788, Elizabeth Hervey, Melissa and Marcia; or the Sisters: a novel, volume 1, pages 61–62
To act in an affectedly prim or dainty manner.

Noun
plural	mimps
Verb
third-person singular present	mimps
present participle	mimping
past participle	mimped
past	mimped

Imitative in origin.

Adapted from Wiktionary: mimp (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this entry: “mimp.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/mimp. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.