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
First, the movement of women telling their stories of victimization online was dismissed by many as a toxic importation of puritanical American mores that were unnecessary in a culture of seduction and harmony between the sexes.
—
Catherine Porter, New York Times, 15 May 2025
Over the past few years, generational warfare has only ramped up—so much so that it’s become boring to even reference: Gen Z hating on millennials for being cringe, millennials hating on Gen Z for being puritanical, and everyone hating on boomers for being, well, boomers.
—Daisy Jones, Vogue, 3 May 2025
His subject, Nandy told me, exhibited all the traits of an authoritarian personality: puritanical rigidity, a constricted emotional life, fear of his own passions, and an enormous ego that protected a gnawing insecurity.
—Andrew Marantz, New Yorker, 28 Apr. 2025
While the #MeToo movement toppled scores of powerful men in Hollywood, in France it was viewed suspiciously by some as a puritanical American import that was tainting an essential part of France’s intellectual and cultural identity.
—Catherine Porter, New York Times, 24 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for puritanical
Catherine Porter, New York Times, 15 May 2025
Over the past few years, generational warfare has only ramped up—so much so that it’s become boring to even reference: Gen Z hating on millennials for being cringe, millennials hating on Gen Z for being puritanical, and everyone hating on boomers for being, well, boomers.
—Daisy Jones, Vogue, 3 May 2025
His subject, Nandy told me, exhibited all the traits of an authoritarian personality: puritanical rigidity, a constricted emotional life, fear of his own passions, and an enormous ego that protected a gnawing insecurity.
—Andrew Marantz, New Yorker, 28 Apr. 2025
While the #MeToo movement toppled scores of powerful men in Hollywood, in France it was viewed suspiciously by some as a puritanical American import that was tainting an essential part of France’s intellectual and cultural identity.
—Catherine Porter, New York Times, 24 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for puritanical
Recent Examples of Synonyms for puritanical
Victorian
Adjective
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Other styles from the Victorian Era that are still en vogue are half-hoops, which feature three to five stones spanning across a thin finger, and Toi et Mois, which feature two gemstones side by side.—
Renan Botelho,
Footwear News,
11 Aug. 2025
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George Eliot, Middlemarch A Victorian novel that feels startlingly modern.—
Mark Nevins,
Forbes.com,
11 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Puritanical.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/puritanical. Accessed 21 Aug. 2025.
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