maiden-auntish en · ADJ
Etymology
From maiden aunt + -ish.
Meanings
-
Having stereotypical characteristics of an elderly unmarried aunt; straight-laced, old-fashioned, etc.
The smell was of camphor, maiden-auntish:
2009, Sarah Waters, chapter 9, in The Little Stranger, Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, page 293:[…] the literary world […] is a world so prissy, maiden-auntish; so class-bound;
1962, Doris Lessing, The Golden Notebook, New York: Bantam, published 1979, page 154:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| most maiden-auntish | Degree=Sup | lexicographic | |
| more maiden-auntish | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic |