as in moralism
a tendency to care a great deal about seemly behavior and morals especially in sexual matters
the Victorian era was often characterized by a hypocritical puritanism
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Examples of puritanism in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
In the English-speaking world, this was a product of puritanism.
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WSJ, 19 May 2022
The news was at odds with Keillor’s public persona as the gentle, avuncular satirist of Midwestern puritanism.
—Washington Post, 20 Oct. 2021
Even when the proceedings become a touch tawdry, there’s a blessed absence of American puritanism in their presentation.
—Sam Sacks, WSJ, 25 June 2021
For modern progressivism is a form of secular puritanism: dour, joyless, haunted to sleeplessness by the prospect that somebody, somewhere might be thinking unsanctioned thoughts or acting in unapproved ways.
—James E. Person Jr., National Review, 17 Sep. 2020
See all Example Sentences for puritanism 
WSJ, 19 May 2022
The news was at odds with Keillor’s public persona as the gentle, avuncular satirist of Midwestern puritanism.
—Washington Post, 20 Oct. 2021
Even when the proceedings become a touch tawdry, there’s a blessed absence of American puritanism in their presentation.
—Sam Sacks, WSJ, 25 June 2021
For modern progressivism is a form of secular puritanism: dour, joyless, haunted to sleeplessness by the prospect that somebody, somewhere might be thinking unsanctioned thoughts or acting in unapproved ways.
—James E. Person Jr., National Review, 17 Sep. 2020
See all Example Sentences for puritanism
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'puritanism.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Puritanism.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/puritanism. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.
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