Synonym Usage
See modest.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of prudish
Explanation
To be prudish is to be extremely proper, almost a little too proper. To be called prudish isn't a compliment. To be proper is to be polite and have good manners. To be prudish is to take being proper to an exaggerated or ridiculous degree. For example, it's definitely a bad idea to use a naughty word in class, but a friend who scolds you when you use it privately could be considered prudish. They're going a little too far. Prudish behavior is also called priggish, prim, prissy, puritanical, and straight-laced. Others usually think prudish people should lighten up.
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.
The display eclipsed the return of garden gnomes to an event so prudish that the lawn ornaments have been allowed just once before in its 113-year history, and only then because it was for charity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026
"The album is not for any pearl clutchers," she told CBS News, with reference to prim, prudish or easily offended people.
From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2025
The online response to the art was painfully scolding and prudish.
From Salon ● Jun. 13, 2025
Prudes are going to be prudish, so no point in trying to appease them in a show that’s all about the havoc that’s wrought when human biology is denied by moralistic zealots.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 1, 2023
Only time, a prudish veil of hours, prevented her brother from seeing her as she had been.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
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.
