1. the quality or state of being self-righteously moralistic or smugly superior in one's behavior or beliefs
Usage: uncountable; often used to criticize someone's annoying moral superiority

Examples

• His priggishness made him unpopular with his classmates, who found his constant lectures about proper behavior tiresome.
• She criticized the priggishness of the Victorian era, when people were overly concerned with appearing respectable.
• The character's priggishness was evident in the way she judged everyone else's choices while ignoring her own flaws.
• His priggishness prevented him from enjoying the party because he disapproved of how others were having fun.
• The novel satirizes the priggishness of the upper class through exaggerated moral posturing.
• Her priggishness about language made her correct everyone's grammar, even in casual conversation.