as in moralist
a person who is greatly concerned with seemly behavior and morality especially regarding sexual matters
some of the town's puritans still maintain that sex education has no place in the schools
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Recent Examples of puritan
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.
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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, 1 Oct. 2024
The city of puritan cant, left-wing pomp, and the meanest ...
—Brian T. Allen, National Review, 4 Jan. 2024
Obviously quitting drinking is not going to turn you into any kind of puritan.
—Chris Willman, Variety, 18 Jan. 2023
Across much of Europe, Merkel—that Protestant minister’s daughter—is resented as a rigid, self-righteous puritan, while support for the E.U. has fallen to historic lows.
—Margaret Talbot, The New Yorker, 11 Aug. 2021
John Winthrop was an English puritan and one of the leading figures in founding the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the second major settlement in New England following Plymouth Colony.
—The Rev. Mike Taylor, baltimoresun.com/maryland/carroll, 12 Sep. 2020
Instead of living in fear of office puritans, aim to delight them.
—Jacob Brogan, chicagotribune.com, 4 Oct. 2019
The sometimes austere looks at times summoned images or elements of puritans, nuns, and schoolmarms — all with a subversive fashion edge.
—Colleen Barry, San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 Sep. 2019
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, 1 Oct. 2024
The city of puritan cant, left-wing pomp, and the meanest ...
—Brian T. Allen, National Review, 4 Jan. 2024
Obviously quitting drinking is not going to turn you into any kind of puritan.
—Chris Willman, Variety, 18 Jan. 2023
Across much of Europe, Merkel—that Protestant minister’s daughter—is resented as a rigid, self-righteous puritan, while support for the E.U. has fallen to historic lows.
—Margaret Talbot, The New Yorker, 11 Aug. 2021
John Winthrop was an English puritan and one of the leading figures in founding the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the second major settlement in New England following Plymouth Colony.
—The Rev. Mike Taylor, baltimoresun.com/maryland/carroll, 12 Sep. 2020
Instead of living in fear of office puritans, aim to delight them.
—Jacob Brogan, chicagotribune.com, 4 Oct. 2019
The sometimes austere looks at times summoned images or elements of puritans, nuns, and schoolmarms — all with a subversive fashion edge.
—Colleen Barry, San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 Sep. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for puritan
Noun
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The concept of consciousness has kept a small army of moralists, physicists, and theologians busy for generations.Melanie Stetson Freeman, The Christian Science Monitor, 22 Nov. 2024
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Satirists are famously also moralists, and Houellebecq is no exception.Judith Shulevitz, The Atlantic, 24 Oct. 2024
Noun
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Give the Original ‘Twister’ a Spin Barbara Peeters is no prude.Sarah Shachat, IndieWire, 19 July 2024
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Despite a handful of prudes trying their best to spoil the fun.Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 4 July 2024
Noun
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Past practice and legal tradition relegated the act, which Congress passed at the behest of Anthony Comstock, one of the outstanding bluenoses of American history, to the scrap heap long ago.Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 25 June 2024
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Key to these plans is the Comstock Act, the 19th-century anti-vice law named for the crusading bluenose Anthony Comstock, who persecuted Margaret Sanger, arrested thousands, and boasted of driving 15 of his targets to suicide.Michelle Goldberg, The Mercury News, 11 Apr. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near puritan
Cite this Entry
“Puritan.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/puritan. Accessed 22 Dec. 2024.
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