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
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Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nice-nellyism
Noun
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Although bikini-esque garments stretch back to Roman times, the 20th century began with a period of great modesty and puritanism.
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The anti-pop animus of classic rock criticism reflected nothing so much as a neurotic puritanism, or maybe just a snobbish inability to hear the deep beauty of pop.
Noun
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Relative moralism is a slippery slope because there is no fundamental belief by all in something, an absolute truth.
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This slows growth, destroys social trust, increases judgment and moralism, and saps societal happiness.
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“Nice-nellyism.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nice-nellyism. Accessed 4 Jul. 2026.
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