Prinks

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Dresses up or adorns oneself with fussy attention to appearance, often in front of a mirror
2. Primps and fusses over one's looks, smoothing clothes and hair to look neat or attractive
3. Takes great pains to groom and decorate oneself, typically in a vain or self-conscious way

Etymology: "Prink" has two possible histories, and the more surprising one is that its sense of "fussing over appearance" may have come from an older word meaning "to wink." Middle English "prinken" meant to wink or signal with the eye, descended from Old English "princ," a wink. How a glance became a preening gesture is not recorded, and the link is not certain. The other candidate is more widely accepted in spirit. Possibly through alteration under the influence of "primp," "prink" may come from an older "prank," meaning to deck or adorn oneself, which reached English from Middle Dutch "prinken," to dress up for show. That Dutch word belongs to a family that includes German "Prunk," meaning splendour or display, and Swedish and Danish "prunk." Its everyday sense, "to primp in front of a mirror," also suggests a showy, decorative origin. The "pre-drink" contraction is a folk etymology and can be set aside.

Synonyms: preen, primp, spruce up, doll up, groom

Antonyms: neglect