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
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
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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However, rather than blithely dismiss the consequences of legalization with eye-rolling contempt for the puritans, supporters should confront the adverse societal effects of cannabis — the pervasive urban stench, the traffic deaths and the pernicious effects on youth.—
Cory Franklin,
Chicago Tribune,
12 Jan. 2026
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Austere antiquity is in constant conflict with more sensual, modern impulses — a tension that feels productive applied to a story of the Shakers, puritans whom time has proven too pure for this world.—
Guy Lodge,
Variety,
1 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Bluenose.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bluenose. Accessed 20 Jan. 2026.
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