Green’s Dictionary of Slang

to dress up, to spruce oneself up; thus prinked (up) adj., spruced up, dressed in one’s best clothes; prinking n., sprucing oneself up.

1573		New Custom I i: Do you not see howe these newe fangled pratling elfes, Prinke vp so pertly of late in euery place?
1576		G. Gascoigne ‘Philomene’ in Chalmers Eng. Poets II (1810) 562/1: Or womans wil (perhappes) Enflamede hir haughtie harte To get more grace by crimes of cost, And prinake it out hir parte.
1600		Tom Tel-troths Message 21: Fine-ruft Ruffines in their brauerie Make cringing cuts [...] Some princk and pranck it.
c.1698		B.E. Dict. Canting Crew n.p.: Prinking, nicely Dressing. Prinkt up, set up on the Cupboards-head in their Best Cloaths, or in State. Stiff-starched. Prinking nicely Dressing.
1708		W. Taverner Maid the Mistress III i: sir. da.: Where’s my Daughter? [...] char.: O within, Sir, prinking herself up.
1725		New Canting Dict. [as cit. c.1698].
1737, 1759, 1760, 1776		Bailey Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. [as cit. c.1698].
1753		J. Collier Art of Tormenting (Encyc. Dict.) n.p.: She was every day longer prinking in the glass than you was [F&H].
1785, 1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue n.p.: Prinking. Dressing over nicely: prinked up as if he came out of a bandbox, or fit to sit upon a cupboard’s head.
1788		G.A. Stevens Adventures of a Speculist I 55: A spruce spark in the bar, prinked out like a Sunday Apprentice.
1811		Lex. Balatronicum [as cit. 1785].
1820		W. Scott Monastery xxiv: Ay, prune thy feathers, and prink thyself gay [F&H].
1868		L.M. Alcott Little Women II 168: It’s evident that her doesn’t prink at his glass before coming down.
1874		North. Ohio Jrnl (Painesville, OH) 17 Jan. 4/7: She is so fond of prinking up [...] wearing fine clothes and trinkets.
1884		Anderson Intelligencer (SC) 20 Nov. 1/3: I used to be very smart in my appearance [...] but I worked so hard I had no time for prinking up.
1899–1900		C.L. Cullen Tales of the Ex-Tanks 385: The sheet-writer walked in one night all prinked up.
1902		Bulletin (Sydney) 8 Nov. 13/1: Since the return of ‘Mister James’ the gloomy newspaper building in Hunter-street, Sydney, has begun to prink and preen itself in earnest; you can find real mirth and sarcasm in the S.M.H. now.
1909		Arizona Republican (Phoenix, AZ) 10 Oct. 1/3: [pic. caption] Prinking up for an Illustrious Visitor.
1912		Dly Missourian (MT) 6 Oct. 8/4: Such blouses are intended for [...] when one wants to prink up a bit.
1926		Wood & Goddard Dict. Amer. Sl. 41: primp, prink. To doll up, dress ostentatiously.
1926		Exeter & Plymouth Gaz. 8 May 3/5: ‘Let’s see how you look in the King’s uniform! Gaw, I never see a chap look better in it’ [...] the prospective recruit fancying himself mightily at being so prinked up.
1934		O. Strange Sudden 237: All prinked up for yore new lover, huh?
1959		D. Niland Big Smoke 83: She used to prink herself up and look pretty standing outside the shop.
1966		C. Stead Cotters’ England (1980) 169: And you’ll be easy game for a prinking thing, a smirking toy like Tom.