Did you know?
Preen hatched in 14th-century Middle English, and early on it displayed various spelling forms, including prenen, prayne, prene, and preyne. The word traces to the Anglo-French puroindre, or proindre, linking pur-, meaning "thoroughly," with uindre, oindre, meaning "to anoint or rub." One of the first writers known to apply preen to the human act of primping was Geoffrey Chaucer in The Canterbury Tales: "He preens himself and prunes and combs his curls / To take the fancy of this queen of girls." Centuries later (sometime during the late 19th century), the prideful meaning of preen took flight, joining bird-related verbs plume, which was being used with the meaning "to pride or congratulate (oneself)," and peacock, a word still used today to mean "to show off."
Examples of preen in a Sentence
The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 12 Mar. 2025
Here it has been conceived as a one-woman monologue, with Snook playing not only the preening protagonist but 25 additional characters over the course of two breathless hours.
—Hannah-Rose Yee, Vogue, 3 Mar. 2025
And that's precisely what happened when Aj reached out to try and spend time with her cat, who was in the middle of a preening session on her bed.
—Dan Perry, Newsweek, 19 Feb. 2025
Phil Wong holds court as a master of preening all over the stage, dialing in his dynamic variance in each iteration of his wild characterizations.
—David John Chávez, The Mercury News, 19 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for preen
Cite this Entry
“Preen.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/preen. Accessed 24 Mar. 2025.
Copy Citation
Share