proprietous

English

Adjective

proprietous (comparative more proprietous, superlative most proprietous)

1. (sometimes proscribed) proper
   • 1845, Douglas Jerrold's Shilling Magazine, volume 1, numbers 1-3, page 257:

     […] the russet gown and spotless head-gear, so proprietous to the out-of-doors employments, and in-doors aspect of a cottager?

   • 1993, David Simpson, Romanticism, Nationalism, and the Revolt Against Theory, page 152:

     Writers have sought both to observe and to exploit these constraints, and sometimes to flout them, while critics have set themselves up mostly to patrol the perimeters of proprietous expression […]

   • 2004, Seven Taoist Masters: A Folk Novel of China:

     The ancient sages offer this advice: If it is not proprietous, do not look at it. If it is not proprietous, do not do it. If it is in front of you, behave as if you saw nothing. If it is spoken to you, behave as if you heard nothing.

Derived terms

• proprietously
• proprietousness

Related terms

• propriety

Anagrams

• peritropous