Synonyms of nice-nelly

nice-nelly 1 of 3

adjective

ˈnīs-ˈne-lē 

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

• Victorian
• puritanical
• moral
• proper
• bluenosed
• prudish
• prim
• refined
• decent
• straightlaced
• straitlaced
• honest
• priggish
• upright
• staid
• stuffy
• virtuous
• righteous
• genteel
• right

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• bad
• improper
• permissive
• liberated
• loose
• wicked
• lax
• indecent
• immoral
• lecherous
• prurient
• sleazy
• degraded
• perverted
• degenerate
• depraved
• lickerish
• skanky
• slutty
• debauched
• slatternly
• sluttish
• trampy

nice nelly

2 of 3

noun (1)

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

• puritan
• Mrs. Grundy
• prude
• moralist
• bluenose
• wowser
• moralizer
• old maid
• Goody Two-shoes
• goody-goody
• stuffed shirt
• spoilsport
• prig
• fuddy-duddy

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• libertine
• immoralist
• libertarian
• misbehaver

nice-nellyism

3 of 3

noun (2)

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

• puritanism
• moralism
• prudery
• prudishness
• morality
• Comstockery
• primness
• priggishness
• old-maidishness
• priggery
• virtue

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• lechery
• prurience
• pruriency
• libertinism
• libertarianism
• libertinage