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
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
Salman seems more inclined than his predecessor to appease the ultraconservative and puritanical Wahhabi clerical establishment and other conservative Islamist forces in the country.
—Richard Sokolsky, Foreign Affairs, 6 Jan. 2016
If, instead, the election is close, existing trends will likely bring out the worst in America—our puritanical righteousness and tribalism.
—Chris Jackson, Fortune, 4 Nov. 2024
See All Example Sentences for puritanical
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
Salman seems more inclined than his predecessor to appease the ultraconservative and puritanical Wahhabi clerical establishment and other conservative Islamist forces in the country.
—Richard Sokolsky, Foreign Affairs, 6 Jan. 2016
If, instead, the election is close, existing trends will likely bring out the worst in America—our puritanical righteousness and tribalism.
—Chris Jackson, Fortune, 4 Nov. 2024
See All Example Sentences for puritanical
Recent Examples of Synonyms for puritanical
Adjective
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The best scalloped bedding may be the trend du jour and a true companion of cottagecore bedding, but the charming design goes back to the Renaissance and Victorian periods.—
Yelena Moroz Alpert,
Architectural Digest,
26 Apr. 2025
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Currently in its first full season since the pandemic, the company staged a play about book banning in 1950s Alabama at two Chicago booksellers last fall, followed by a holiday production of Victorian ghost stories at the Driehaus Museum’s 19th-century mansion.—
Emily McClanathan,
Chicago Tribune,
25 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Puritanical.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/puritanical. Accessed 5 May. 2025.
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