preened
past simple and past participle ofpreen
preen
verb
uk/priːn/us/priːn/preenverb(TIDY)
[IorT]
If abirdpreens or preens itself, itcleansandarrangesitsfeathersusingitsbeak.
[IorT]disapproving
tospendtimemaking yourselflookattractive:
Roald alwaysspendsagespreening (himself) before he goes out.
Animal (non-human) behaviour
- accidental
- beg
- behave
- behaviour
- behavioural science
- behaviourist
- groom
- hatch
- hover
- monogamy
- murmuration
- nocturnal
- non-migrant
- non-migratory
- nuzzle
- ruminate
- scent
- skitter
- slaver
- torpor
You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
Skilled, talented and able
preenverb(FEEL PROUD)
preen yourself
tofeelveryproudorsatisfiedwith yourself because of anactionorquality:
Thegovernmentispubliclypreening itselfonthelatesttradefigures.
Thecompanypreened itselfforhavingtaken on so many newemployeeslastyear.
Showing arrogance and conceit
- (as) proud as Luciferidiom
- airs and gracesidiom
- arrogant
- arrogantly
- as ifyouowned the placeidiom
- dog
- egocentric
- egocentrically
- egoistic
- egomaniacal
- overweening
- overweeningly
- patronize
- patronizing
- pomposity
- swollen-headed
- talk down tosomeone
- think the (whole) world revolves aroundyouidiom
- throwyourweight aroundidiom
- tin god
Examplesofpreened
preened
In English, many past and present participles of verbs can be used as adjectives. Some of these examples may show the adjective use.
The common name, 'whitefly', derives from the presence of secreted powdery wax which ispreenedover the body and wings by the adults of almost all species.
From theCambridge English Corpus
Goschenpreenedhimself greatly on his dateless 2½ per cents.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
Cheaters, or those birds that try to bepreenedwithout preening others, do not compete and thus are excluded from these relationships.
From
This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.
Wikipedia
This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.When ready to mate, the pairpreenedeach other.
FromThis example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.
Wikipedia
This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.