preen

1 of 3

verb (1)

ˈprēn 

preened; preening; preens

transitive verb

1

of a bird : to groom with the bill especially by rearranging the barbs and barbules of the feathers and by distributing oil from the uropygial gland

2

: to dress or smooth (oneself) up : primp

3

: to pride or congratulate (oneself) on an achievement

intransitive verb

1

: to make oneself sleek

2

: to behave or speak with obvious pride or self-satisfaction

preener noun

preen

2 of 3

noun

1

dialectal, chiefly British : pin

2

dialectal, chiefly British : brooch

preen

3 of 3

verb (2)

preened; preening; preens

transitive verb

chiefly Scotland

: pin

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

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

Two cockatoos began touching beaks and preening each other. —Carlyn Kranking, Smithsonian Magazine, 5 Apr. 2024

When moving through a crowd of darting and preening Italians, her presence is anomalous — a sea anemone amid parrotfish. —Molly Young, New York Times, 19 Mar. 2024

Billy Eugene Jones plays both Rev and Pap, and the two come across as different kinds of preening tyrant: one supercilious and the other more aggressive yet both pumped up with machismo. —Vulture, 12 Apr. 2023

That meant fourteen straight losses, stretching into five days, with preening nominating speeches, occasional huddle-ups signifying nothing, and lots of pictures of members looking down at their phones. —Ian Crouch, The New Yorker, 24 Nov. 2023

Industry legends Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara star as the mom and dad, while their sniping, preening adult children are Annie Murphy and Dan Levy (real-life son of Eugene). —Declan Gallagher, EW.com, 8 Sep. 2023

Punctuated by this: A prancing, preening celebration, high stepping with flailing arms across the court to within inches of the SDSU bench and nearly making contact with coach Brian Dutcher. —Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune, 16 Feb. 2024

Marsden's sparring with Gladden — who begins the series as a preening fanboy before realizing the Sonic the Hedgehog star might be the stupidest member of the jury — is the show's crowning glory. —Declan Gallagher, EW.com, 8 Sep. 2023

The city’s resident beautiful boys—Deon Hinton, Tanner Reese, and Alexander Roth—preened in front of a jet-black step-and-repeat. —Ian Malone, Vogue, 11 Feb. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Verb (1)

Middle English prenen, alteration of proynen, prunen, from Anglo-French puroindre, proindre, from pur- thoroughly + uindre, oindre to anoint, rub, from Latin unguere — more at purchase entry 1, ointment

Noun

Middle English prene, from Old English prēon; akin to Middle High German pfrieme awl

First Known Use

Verb (1)

14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb (2)

1572, in the meaning defined above

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Kids Definition

preen

verb

ˈprēn

1

: to groom with the bill

a bird preening its feathers

2

: to make one's appearance neat and tidy

preened in front of the mirror