Prigs

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. One who exhibits excessive propriety or moral rigidity in behavior or judgment
2. A person who smugly follows social rules or conventions, often to the annoyance of others
3. An individual who is overly concerned with detail and correctness, to the point of being tedious or self-righteous

Etymology: "Prigs" is the plural of "prig," so the history belongs to the singular. The word's origin is unknown, but English speakers were using it by the 16th century, and its earliest recorded senses were quite different from today's. In those early uses it could mean a tinker, a sort of mender of pots and pans, or a thief. The sense of a conceited, fussy person seems to have grown out of those older meanings, perhaps because such people were regarded as undesirable company. Over time the notion of an unpleasant character gradually narrowed into the modern picture of someone who is self-satisfied about their own correctness and rule-following, and who irritates everyone else with it.

Synonyms: snobs, pedants