Puritanical

/pjʊəɹ.ɪˈtæn.ɪ.kəl/ · adjective

Meaning

Of or pertaining to the Puritans, or to their doctrines and practice..

Definitions by Sense

1. Of or pertaining to the Puritans, or to their doctrines and practice.
2. Precise in observance of legal or religious requirements; strict; overscrupulous; rigid (often used by way of reproach or contempt).
3. One who holds puritanical attitudes.

Example Sentences

The host proposed divers puritanical fancies—nay, once hinted at a head of Cromwell himself; but the hostess overruled all these proposals, and stood firm by the Sun.

Mrs. Barrymore is of interest to me. She is a heavy, solid person, very limited, intensely respectable, and inclined to be puritanical. You could hardly conceive a less emotional subject. Yet I have told you how, on the first night here, I heard her sobbing bitterly, and since then I have more than once observed traces of tears upon her face. Some deep sorrow gnaws ever at her heart. Sometimes I wonder if she has a guilty memory which haunts her, and sometimes I suspect Barrymore of being a domestic tyrant.

Exogamy […] has few or none of the quaint superstitions which lend a certain picturesque charm to totemism. It is, so to say, a stern Puritanical institution. Its rigid logic, its complex rules, its elaborate terminology, its labyrinthine systems of relationship, it presents an aspect somewhat hard and repellant.

American society has a double standard when it comes to sexuality. We have a puritanical taboo against talking about sexuality directly, yet we are fine with the sexual images that pervade television and glossy magazines.

Synonyms for puritanical

Antonyms for puritanical

Related Words

Word Forms

• more puritanical
• most puritanical
• Puritanical
• puritanicals

Usage Notes

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