priggism

Noun

priggism (usually uncountable, plural priggisms)

1. (usually) 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.1825, Robert Mudie, chapter 9, in Babylon the Great: A Dissection and Demonstration of Men and Things in the British Capital, volume I, London: Charles Knight, page 175
   • He was even satisfied, secretly gratified at the correctness of demeanour of his proposed bride, the reluctance of her maidenhood, it all fitted in with his priggism […]1903, Julia Frankau (as Frank Danby), Pigs in Clover, Philadelphia: Lippincott, Chapter 11, p. 211

   Synonyms:

   priggery, priggishness

2. (obsolete, usually) Roguery; thievery.
   • 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 Liberty, or to give up the latter in the Preservation and Preference...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