schoolmarm
/ˈskulˌmɑɹm/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.48 in modern English
19
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
2
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A female teacher, especially one seen to be old-fashioned and extremely severe and strict.
American usage; Slang
noun
Someone who acts like a schoolmarm, especially in being stern and prissy.
verb
To discipline in the manner of a schoolmarm; to harshly reprimand or chide.
American usage; Slang; Transitive verb
Example Sentences
- "The schoolmarm came to an abrupt stop in her arithmetic quizzing, her face set into a pruny scowl that looked to be permanent."
- "I never thought of [my granfather] as "colorful." Matter of fact, he was an unsavory old coot - not a good influence for a growing boy by the standards of those times. Mmm, there was something about a young schoolmarm and him in the town my family had lived in, some scandal - "scandal" for those days, I mean - and I think that was why we moved."
- "Bernstein, am I a stuffed shirt? Am I a horse-faced hypocrite? Am I a New England school marm?"
- "His brother Thomas, impaled upon the "schoolmarm tree," had opened his mouth to cry but snow and wind hurled back the words into his throat so that nothing emerges but white froth."
- "Well, our trouble in America is that we're being schoolmarmed to death. You can see it in any paper you pick up."
- "One client, the most mothering member of the group, did exactly that: she took him home, fed him, and schoolmarmed him through the application form."
Etymology
Word Breakdown
- Root: *seǵʰ-
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈskulˌmɑɹm/
Usage
- American usage
- Slang
- Transitive verb