: a person who advocates a rigorous moral code
Examples of bluenose in a Sentence
the editorial lambasts those bluenoses who feel they have the moral authority to dictate how other people should conduct themselves in private
Recent Examples on the Web
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.
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Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 25 June 2024
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
But unlike some of his fellow combatants, Mr. Leo was too funny a writer to come off as a complete bluenose.
—New York Times, 11 May 2022
Bluenoses were bound to be pushed out of joint, so to speak, by a festival that was more Burning Man than County Fair.
—Logan Jenkins, sandiegouniontribune.com, 2 June 2017
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Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 25 June 2024
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
But unlike some of his fellow combatants, Mr. Leo was too funny a writer to come off as a complete bluenose.
—New York Times, 11 May 2022
Bluenoses were bound to be pushed out of joint, so to speak, by a festival that was more Burning Man than County Fair.
—Logan Jenkins, sandiegouniontribune.com, 2 June 2017
Cite this Entry
“Bluenose.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bluenose. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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