as in puritan
a person who is greatly concerned with seemly behavior and morality especially regarding sexual matters
the editorial lambasts those bluenoses who feel they have the moral authority to dictate how other people should conduct themselves in private
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Recent Examples of bluenose
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
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
Hers is a tale of pink paint, bluenoses and brown coverup.
—Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 12 Mar. 2024
The National Endowment for the Arts, created as part of Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society in 1965, is a perennial target of partisan bluenoses accusing it of all varieties of offenses against public morals and sensitivities, though efforts to abolish it have consistently failed.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 7 Sep. 2023
The Comstock Act was the brainchild of Anthony Comstock, one of the outstanding bluenoses of American history.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 6 Mar. 2023
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
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
Hers is a tale of pink paint, bluenoses and brown coverup.
—Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 12 Mar. 2024
The National Endowment for the Arts, created as part of Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society in 1965, is a perennial target of partisan bluenoses accusing it of all varieties of offenses against public morals and sensitivities, though efforts to abolish it have consistently failed.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 7 Sep. 2023
The Comstock Act was the brainchild of Anthony Comstock, one of the outstanding bluenoses of American history.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 6 Mar. 2023
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bluenose
puritan
Noun
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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
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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
Cite this Entry
“Bluenose.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bluenose. Accessed 30 Jun. 2025.
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