First recorded in 1895–1900; after A. Comstock ( def. ) + -ery
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In the early 20th century, this idea of Comstockery becomes really popular.
From Scientific American • Apr. 28, 2023
His name may be forgotten, but the age of Comstockery is not over.
From New York Times • Sep. 20, 2019
After the bad days of Comstockery, the quality of his poetry was improving with the quality of his encounters:
From Salon • Jan. 11, 2014
George Bernard Shaw said: "Comstockery is the world's standing joke at the expense of the United States."
From Time Magazine Archive
It is such a subtly pervasive thing, this Comstockery, it steals in wherever it can and puts the taint of its own uncleanness on whatever it touches.
From Mother Earth, Vol. 1 No. 1, March 1906 by Goldman, Emma
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
