Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Marked by or exhibiting the characteristics of a prude; priggish.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Having the character or manner of a prude; affecting extreme propriety of behavior; also, characteristic of a prude; prim.
  • Excessively formal or precise; rigid; stiff; severe.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Like a prude; very formal, precise, or reserved; affectedly severe in virtue

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective of excessive propriety; easily offended or shocked, especially by sexual matters

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective exaggeratedly proper

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Hilarious Ad About Dirty, Dirty Money (kinda NSFW) (WARNING: Not meant for kids, or for adult viewing while in prudish work environments).

    Boing Boing 2009

  • BLOOM: Yes, he is called prudish for considering it a crime for a 43 - year-old man to have sex with a 13-year-old girl.

    CNN Transcript Oct 4, 2009 2009

  • BLOOM: Yes, he is called prudish for considering it a crime for a 43 - year-old man to have sex with a 13-year-old girl.

    CNN Transcript Oct 4, 2009 2009

  • He was religious and prudish, which is one of the main reasons why the novels of his era do not feature any sex.

    The problem of length -- part 1 Michael Allen 2004

  • He was religious and prudish, which is one of the main reasons why the novels of his era do not feature any sex.

    Archive 2004-12-01 Michael Allen 2004

  • He was religious and prudish, which is one of the main reasons why the novels of his era do not feature any sex.

    December 2004 Michael Allen 2004

  • Bernarda had arrived in Barcelona shortly after the war, fleeing from poverty and from a father who on a good day would beat her up and tell her she was stupid, ugly, and a slut, and on a bad one would corner her in the pigsty, drunk, and fondle her until she sobbed with terror - at which point he'd let her go, calling her prudish and stuck up, like her mother.

    The Shadow of the Wind Zafon, Carlos Ruiz 2001

  • (I put the perverse in quotations because I fear to be called prudish by Freudians.)

    The Foundations of Personality 1921

  • And, most definitely, there is the looking glass trained on an era always described as prudish and restrained -- a welcome revelation that Victorian values may have plagued society at large, but couldn't entirely penetrate life behind closed doors. the controversy Kinsey's work is plagued with.

    Cinematical Monika Bartyzel 2010

  • And, most definitely, there is the looking glass trained on an era always described as prudish and restrained -- a welcome revelation that Victorian values may have plagued society at large, but couldn't entirely penetrate life behind closed doors. the controversy Kinsey's work is plagued with.

    Cinematical Monika Bartyzel 2010

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