as in puritanism
a tendency to care a great deal about seemly behavior and morals especially in sexual matters
a misguided nice-nellyism prompted the city-owned art museum to cancel its scheduled exhibit on the nude in photography
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nice-nellyism
Noun
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Puritanism is now expressing itself tragically in those who were subject to puritanism, the youth.—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
27 Nov. 2024 -
Inevitably, puritanism is going to come out and come back and go away.—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
27 Nov. 2024
Noun
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The phone consensus is bipartisan, appealing to right-wing moralism and left-wing anti-corporate sentiment alike.—
Molly Fischer,
New Yorker,
30 June 2025
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The true villain is Herod, who, in his hypocritical mixture of slobbering lust and grandstanding moralism, is a model man of power.—
Alex Ross,
New Yorker,
19 May 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Nice-nellyism.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nice-nellyism. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.
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