prude
noun
a person who is excessively proper or modest in speech, conduct, dress, etc.
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.
Eight years later, “Showgirls” poked fun at the entertainment industry and America’s cultural prudishness.
From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2026
"Milton is renowned as an enemy of press censorship," Scott-Warren said, "but here we see he was not immune to prudishness."
From Science Daily ● May 15, 2024
Comstock ultimately became a public laughingstock for his prudishness, and the Supreme Court overturned the law’s restrictions on birth control in 1965.
From Scientific American ● Apr. 28, 2023
Throughout “The Years,” Ernaux traces the collapse of Catholic prudishness as it’s attacked by secularism, the pill, the legalization of abortion and the women’s movement.
From New York Times ● Jan. 19, 2018
Perhaps at this age we return to the prudishness we had as children.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
