† paw-pawadj.
colloquial. Obsolete.
Improper, nasty; indecent, obscene, immoral.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > wrongdoing > unfittingness > [adjective]
unbecomelyc1200
uncomelyc1230
unsetec1325
unconablea1340
unhonestc1380
unsitting1390
undue1398
ungainanda1400
disconvenienta1425
unjustc1443
unconvenient1450
unsoundablec1450
inconvenientc1460
unorderly1471
mis-seeminga1522
unconvenable1542
undecent1546
ungreeing1560
graceless1562
unsetting1567
unhovable1570
ill1586
uncouth1589
unfittinga1592
unbeseeming1593
seemless1596
unbecoming1598
unbefitting1598
ill-seta1627
unbeseemly1648
ungainlya1660
indecorous1681
paw-paw1723
ungain-like1796
jive1971
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > [adjective] > improper
unjustc1443
graceless1562
ill1586
ugly1594
incorrect1672
paw-paw1723
improper1739
unproper1797
pah1835
society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > moral or spiritual impurity > indecency > [adjective]
unhonest13..
inhonest1340
undecent1563
broad1579
nasty1601
indecent1613
paw1668
paw-paw1723
improper1739
unproper1797
fie-fie1812
warm1814
blue1818
indecorous1829
off-colour1875
sultry1887
suggestive1888
scorching1890
juicy1923
gamey1945
1723 N. Amhurst Poems Several Occasions (ed. 2) 57 What! would you make a Brothel of the Stage? No Play of late can be obscene enough; Think ye, the Ladies like such paw-paw Stuff?
?1761 B. Montfichet Life & Opinions I. 117 ‘A child’, said he, ‘is ashamed of nothing, till his mama or governess chides and tells him it is a pawpaw word, a naughty thing.’
1796 Grose's Classical Dict. Vulgar Tongue (ed. 3) Paw paw Tricks, naughty tricks: an expression used by nurses, &c. to children.
1826 T. H. Lister Granby (ed. 2) I. ix. 124 Then went on to say paw-paw things of Lady Mary Wortley Montague.
a1872 J. Poole Lodgings for Single Gentlemen (1879) 26 As to any paw paw correspondence, there we are safe enough.
Derivatives
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > wrongdoing > unfittingness > [noun]
unconablenessa1340
unconabletya1340
unlikelinessa1413
ungrace1430
disconveniencec1450
wangrace1513
uncomeliness1542
improperty1555
unproperness1561
unmeetness1574
unhandsomeness1598
unbeseemingness1623
unbecomingness1652
impropriety1697
indecence1714
paw-pawness1828
unadaptedness1846
unbefittingness1865
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > [noun] > improper behaviour
unskillc1175
unkina1200
unthriftc1374
inconveniencec1460
mal-behaviour1721
impropriety1751
paw-pawness1828
society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > moral or spiritual impurity > indecency > [noun]
inhonesty1481
scandal1622
nastiness1650
fulsomeness1684
indecency1692
impropriety1751
blue1824
paw-pawness1828
blueness1833
gaminess1854
suggestiveness1888
purple1930
1828 Examiner 434/1 Churches will cover a multitude of actresses. Our paw-pawness hedgeth with sacred stone, and abundantly excuseth itself with Glebe Houses.
1829 Examiner 49/2 Proposals for the better rewarding of paw-pawness.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online September 2020).
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adj.1723