maiden-auntish

English

Etymology

maiden aunt +‎ -ish

Adjective

maiden-auntish (comparative more maiden-auntish, superlative most maiden-auntish)

Having stereotypical characteristics of an elderly unmarried aunt; straight-laced, old-fashioned, etc.
- 1962, Doris Lessing, The Golden Notebook‎, New York: Bantam, published 1979, page 154:
  […] the literary world […] is a world so prissy, maiden-auntish; so class-bound;
- 2009, Sarah Waters, chapter 9, in The Little Stranger‎, Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, page 293:
  The smell was of camphor, maiden-auntish:

Derived terms

maiden-auntishness

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