1.
2.
3.
[syn: prude, puritan]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Puritan \Pu"ri*tan\, n. [From Purity.]
1. (Eccl. Hist.) One who, in the time of Queen Elizabeth and
the first two Stuarts, opposed traditional and formal
usages, and advocated simpler forms of faith and worship
than those established by law; -- originally, a term of
reproach. The Puritans formed the bulk of the early
population of New England.
[1913 Webster]
Note: The Puritans were afterward distinguished as Political
Puritans, Doctrinal Puritans, and Puritans in
Discipline. --Hume.
[1913 Webster]
2. One who is scrupulous and strict in his religious life; --
often used reproachfully or in contempt; one who has
overstrict notions.
[1913 Webster]
She would make a puritan of the devil. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Puritan \Pu"ri*tan\, a.
Of or pertaining to the Puritans; resembling, or
characteristic of, the Puritans.
[1913 Webster] Puritanic
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
Puritan
n 1: a member of a group of English Protestants who in the 16th
and 17th centuries thought that the Protestant Reformation
under Elizabeth was incomplete and advocated the
simplification and regulation of forms of worship
2: someone who adheres to strict religious principles; someone
opposed to sensual pleasures
3: a person excessively concerned about propriety and decorum
[syn: prude, puritan]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
84 Moby Thesaurus words for "puritan":
Albigensian, Catharist, Franciscan, Grundy, Sabbatarian, Trappist,
Victorian, Waldensian, abstainer, anchorite, ascetic, austere,
bhikshu, bigoted, bluenose, dervish, disapproving, dour, fakir,
fanatic, firm, flagellant, fundamentalist, goody-goody, hard,
hard-line, hard-nosed, hermit, hidebound, impliable, inexorable,
inflexible, intolerant, iron, ironbound, ironclad, ironhanded,
mendicant, mid-Victorian, moralistic, muscle-bound, narrow-minded,
obdurate, obstinate, old maid, orthodox, pietist, pietistic, prig,
prim, procrustean, proper, prude, prudish, purist, puristic,
puritanic, puritanical, relentless, religionist, rigid, rigorist,
rigoristic, rigorous, rockbound, sannyasi, severe, stern, stiff,
stiff-necked, straightlaced, strait-laced, straitlaced, strict,
stubborn, stuffy, unbending, uncompromising, unrelenting,
unyielding, uptight, yogi, yogin, zealot