prude
Americannoun
-
prudes
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of prude
First recorded in 1695–1705; from French prude “a prude” (noun), “prudish” (adjective), short for prudefemme, Old French prodefeme “worthy or respectable woman,” equivalent to proud + feme
Explanation
Use prude to describe someone who is too concerned with being proper or modest. It is a derogatory label affixed most often to people who are not forthcoming romantically — and it's not very nice. To be prude is to be prudent, or careful. That’s not a bad thing, but prude is usually an insult. A prude might gasp when someone says a bad word. Prude was borrowed from French, short for prude femme "wise and good woman." Though the word took on a negative meaning, Old French prud also meant "capable or brave" and is probably the source of English proud.
Vocabulary lists containing prude
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“Trust them. Don’t, for lack of a better word, be a prude about it.”
From Salon ● Sep. 20, 2026
I’d rather be called a prude than acquiesce to society’s slow drift into vice.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 14, 2026
“I’ve been reminded that I’m a prude of an English boy.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2025
Anthony Comstock, a 19th-century crusader against sexual liberty, was mocked as a prude in his own time, but wielded real power.
From New York Times ● May 16, 2023
But he told the joke well, and Perry, though he was in some measure a prude, could not help laughing, as always.
From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote
Over the centuries, the Wife of Bath has been swinging her hips through Western culture, knocking princesses off their pedestals, shocking prudes and clearing a path for savvy, witty women.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 15, 2023
And the cheekiness of the choice implicitly painted those protesting Wallen as cultural prudes, as if he hadn’t been the agent of his own undoing.
From New York Times ● Jan. 20, 2022
If 2018 prudes want to interpret the lyrics as something else; the problem obviously lies in their own minds not in the original lyrics.
From Washington Times ● Dec. 12, 2018
Evolutionary ornithologist Richard O. Prum says the theory was distorted by Victorian prudes.
From Slate ● Jun. 4, 2018
“And those people calling you a prude were prudes once, too,” she adds.
From "Ask the Passengers" by A.S. King
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.
