Meanings
prink1
present singular third person prinks · participle present prinking · participle past prinked · past prinked
prink2
plural prinks
- The act of adjusting one's dress or appearance; the act of sprucing oneself up.
“Is my sash right; and does my hair look very bad?” said Meg, as she turned from the glass in Mrs. Gardiner’s dressing-room, after a prolonged prink.
1868, Louisa May Alcott, chapter 3, in Little Women, volume 1, Boston: Roberts Brothers, page 43
present singular third person prinks · participle present prinking · participle past prinked · past prinked
- To dress finely, primp, preen, spruce up.
[…] by the Mass: You’ll make excellent Wives, Cuckold your Husbands immoderately: You mind nothing but prinking your selves up.
1676, Thomas Shadwell, The Virtuoso, London: Henry Herringman, act I, page 121 more example
She put it on, then floated round the room prinking things — the flowers, the ashtrays, Jack's whisky tray — making everything outside herself perfect because nothing inside herself was perfect in the least.
1986, John le Carré, A Perfect Spy - To strut, put on pompous airs, be pretentious.
- To improve; to make stylish.
The gardens were spruced and the fountains played again and the two main hotels, the Splendide and the Hermitage, were prinked and furbished and restaffed.
1953, Ian Fleming, “The Girl From Headquarters”, in Casino Royale, London: Pan Books, published 1955, page 35
prink3
Synonyms & antonyms
verbput on special clothes to appear particularly appealing and attractive
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
prink · verb
- Old Englishprinc“a wink”
- Middle Englishprinken“to wink, signal with the eye”
- Englishprink
From Middle English prinken (“to wink, signal with the eye”), from prinke, prinche (“a wink, twinkling of the eye, momentary gesture”), from Old English princ (“a wink”). More at pry.
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →prink · noun, verb
- Middle Low Germanprunken
- Middle Dutchprinken“to deck for show, parade in fine apparel”
- Middle Englishpranken“to trim”
- Englishprink
Perhaps alteration (due to primp) of prank (“to deck, adorn”), from Middle English pranken (“to trim”), or from Middle Dutch prinken (“to deck for show, parade in fine apparel”) (from pronk (“show, display”) or from Middle Low German prunken (from prank (“display”)). Cognate with Middle Dutch pronken (“to flaunt”), German Prunk (“a show, parade, splendour”), Danish and Swedish prunk.
More words from Middle English, Middle Dutch, Middle Low German
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with prink
Cite this entry
prink. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prink
“prink.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prink. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “prink,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prink.
Source: prink on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.