as in Victorian
given to or marked by very conservative standards regarding personal behavior or morals
some of the state laws concerning sexual behavior are vestiges of a more puritanical time and are rarely, if ever, enforced
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Recent Examples of puritanical
With their charismatic leadership, organizational skills, puritanical ideology, and internal solidarity, HTS and other militant groups were the unintended beneficiaries.
—
Fawaz A. Gerges, Foreign Affairs, 27 Jan. 2025
By then, America had become a lot less puritanical.
—Michael Schulman, The New Yorker, 22 Dec. 2024
Babygirl tries to deftly waltz over this minefield of a topic without a sense of puritanical judgement or heavy panting, but with as much emphasis on Romy’s need for this transfer of power to tap into her erogenous zones.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 23 Dec. 2024
Gein was born in 1906 to an alcoholic father and an allegedly fanatically puritanical mother, according to the MGM+ docuseries Psycho: The Lost Tapes of Ed Gein.
—Jordana Comiter, People.com, 23 Nov. 2024
See All Example Sentences for puritanical
Fawaz A. Gerges, Foreign Affairs, 27 Jan. 2025
By then, America had become a lot less puritanical.
—Michael Schulman, The New Yorker, 22 Dec. 2024
Babygirl tries to deftly waltz over this minefield of a topic without a sense of puritanical judgement or heavy panting, but with as much emphasis on Romy’s need for this transfer of power to tap into her erogenous zones.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 23 Dec. 2024
Gein was born in 1906 to an alcoholic father and an allegedly fanatically puritanical mother, according to the MGM+ docuseries Psycho: The Lost Tapes of Ed Gein.
—Jordana Comiter, People.com, 23 Nov. 2024
See All Example Sentences for puritanical
Recent Examples of Synonyms for puritanical
Victorian
Adjective
-
During the Victorian era, luminaries such as Wilkie Collins and Alfred, Lord Tennyson paid tribute to Franklin, eulogizing him as a martyr who sacrificed himself for the cause of scientific advancement.—
Meilan Solly,
Smithsonian Magazine,
19 May 2025
-
Along the way, the orchid became the subject of scientific speculation (including by Charles Darwin), a fetish in the Victorian era’s burgeoning consumer culture, and an example of the excesses of imperialist extraction.—
The New Yorker,
New Yorker,
19 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Puritanical.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/puritanical. Accessed 25 May. 2025.
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