nice-nelly 1 of 2

adjective

ˈnīs-ˈne-lē How to pronounce nice-nelly (audio)
Definition of nice-nellynext
as in Victorian
given to or marked by very conservative standards regarding personal behavior or morals the novel's wildly off base portrayal of 18th-century aristocrats as nice-nelly exemplars of decorum

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

nice nelly

2 of 2

noun

as in puritan
a person who is greatly concerned with seemly behavior and morality especially regarding sexual matters some nice nelly bowdlerized this collection of wartime ditties that were lustily sung by the men around the campfire

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Examples Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for nice-nelly
  1. Victorian
  2. puritan
  3. puritanical
Adjective
  • Our Most Popular Stories of 2021 This year, readers were into peanut butter and jelly, semi-conductors, bayonets, Victorian knitting manuals, plus the hard-working dogs of Medieval Europe.
    JSTOR Daily, JSTOR Daily, 8 Jan. 2025
  • It is joined by an assortment of Victorian homes (some are rentable) and the neighborhood’s crown jewel, the 1892 Bishop’s Palace, which is open for tours.
    Tara Massouleh McCay, Southern Living, 6 Jan. 2025
Definition of Victorian
Noun
  • Centuries after being burned at the stake, a witch named Jennifer (Veronica Lake) magically reappears and tries to torment the descendant of the puritan who led the charge against her — only to fall in love with him.
    Clark Collis, EW.com, 18 Oct. 2024
  • Naysayers and scene puritans are too late to tear down Turnstile; the Baltimore band heard it all before its third album even dropped anyway.
    Pitchfork, Pitchfork, 1 Oct. 2024
Definition of puritan
Adjective
  • By then, America had become a lot less puritanical.
    Michael Schulman, The New Yorker, 22 Dec. 2024
  • Babygirl tries to deftly waltz over this minefield of a topic without a sense of puritanical judgement or heavy panting, but with as much emphasis on Romy’s need for this transfer of power to tap into her erogenous zones.
    David Fear, Rolling Stone, 23 Dec. 2024
Definition of puritanical
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Thesaurus Entries Near nice-nelly

nice nelly

nice-nelly

nice-nellyism

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Cite this Entry

“Nice-nelly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nice-nelly. Accessed 22 Jan. 2025.

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