Definition of "preppy" [preppy]

• Informal A student or former student of a preparatory school. (noun)
• Informal A person whose manner and dress are deemed typical of traditional preparatory schools. (noun)
• Of or relating to a preppy or a preparatory school. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "One of the six "gangs" of girls Mr. Roth plans to send down the runway this season is named the "Twill Seekers," whom he describes as preppy, Upper East Siders who wear items such as this striped rugby wrap dress."
• "The oddity of my elementary school situation was that those who ruled classroom society were what would be called preppy."
• "Until the 1980s, a California preppy was all but oxymoronic."