Puritanism
Americannoun
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the principles and practices of the Puritans.
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(sometimes lowercase) extreme strictness in moral or religious matters, often to excess; rigid austerity.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of Puritanism
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.
Puritanism, by contrast, was born in rebellion against the Church of England and the “divine right” claimed by the king.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026
The case, however, made Comstock’s name synonymous with “prudery, Puritanism and officious meddling,” according to Broun and Leech.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 18, 2023
He might have vanished into Boston history were it not for the British, who spectacularly and catastrophically failed to understand what made Massachusetts citizens, forged by an independent version of Puritanism, tick.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 4, 2022
Bob found the thread connecting these giants of America’s tumultuous, formative years “in their pluralism, in their liberation from Puritanism, in their respect for mind.”
From Washington Post ● Jun. 19, 2020
Lovers of art were glad of the prospect of a broader culture than was possible in the shadow of Puritanism.
From Liberty In The Nineteenth Century by Frederic May Holland
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.
