as in Victorian
given to or marked by very conservative standards regarding personal behavior or morals
the novel's wildly off base portrayal of 18th-century aristocrats as nice-nelly exemplars of decorum
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in puritan
a person who is greatly concerned with seemly behavior and morality especially regarding sexual matters
some nice nelly bowdlerized this collection of wartime ditties that were lustily sung by the men around the campfire
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nice-nelly
Adjective
-
The Sherlock Holmes series adds a touch of Victorian charm with rich wood paneling, brass accents, and cozy reading nooks perfect for sleuthing through your own novels.—
Elizabeth Fogarty,
Better Homes & Gardens,
23 Aug. 2025 -
In the 2001 episode shot above Times Square, the poet Michael Stipe sits regal in a Victorian skirt and peppers Automatic for the People and Reveal songs with a rant about George Bush’s nuclear energy policy.—
Brittany Allen,
Literary Hub,
22 Aug. 2025
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
-
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
Noun
-
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.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
29 Mar. 2026
-
Inevitably, puritanism is going to come out and come back and go away.—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
27 Nov. 2024
Adjective
-
Many people on the internet did not take kindly to such puritanical belt-tightening.—
Brady Brickner-Wood,
New Yorker,
29 Apr. 2026
-
In the song, an old-growth tree provides cover from the watchful eye of puritanical church folk; chili dogs and ice cream are an excuse to break free from parents.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
29 Apr. 2026
Noun
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During my education, the interwar period in Europe was represented as a renaissance, a cultural rebirth that swept away the staid moralism of the previous century and established an era of artistic invention which kept pace with technological development.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
13 Apr. 2026
-
To say anything else, many feminists now argue, would be to infantilize her, to subordinate her—to the state, to moralism—rather than acknowledge her mastery of her own body.—
S. C. Cornell,
New Yorker,
5 Jan. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Nice-nelly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nice-nelly. Accessed 24 May. 2026.
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