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🇵🇹Portuguese Source WordCode: PT

alisar-se

Pronunciation / Transliteration: a-li-zar-se

🇬🇧 Direct English Meaning:
Preening/ˈpriː.nɪŋ/
verbadjectiveCEFR C1 (Advanced)Top #8500 frequency
Full Thesaurus
🇵🇹 Example Sentence in Portuguese:

"A ave começou a alisar-se à beira do lago."

Comprehensive Definitions & Senses

2 senses
As verb
  1. 1

    Of a bird, to straighten and clean its feathers with its beak; of a person, to devote excessive care and attention to one's appearance.

    "The peacock stood proudly on the lawn, preening its vibrant tail feathers."
  2. 2

    To pride oneself on an achievement or make oneself appear superficially attractive in order to impress others.

    "He spent hours in front of the mirror, preening before the gala event."
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Thesaurus & Semantic Spectrum

Antonyms & Contrasting Words (1)

Linguistic Origin & Historical Etymology

Derived from Middle English prenen, meaning to prick or trim, which likely originated from the Old French preindre (to press or adorn). Originally used in ornithology to describe birds smoothing their feathers with their beaks, the meaning expanded by the 16th century to metaphorically describe humans devoting excessive attention to grooming or self-congratulation.

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