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.
By then, Deacon Chapin was dead, although Puritanism wasn’t yet.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 6, 2025
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
The Pilgrims who initially arrived in Plymouth practiced an extreme form of Puritanism that broke with the Church of England.
From Washington Post • Jun. 2, 2022
Nor were his counterparts in the New World, where Puritanism found space to thrive.
From The Guardian • Jun. 15, 2020
Ananias had become so closely connected with Puritanism, that not only did Dryden poke fun at the relationship in the “Alchemist,” but Ananias Dulman became the cant term for a long-winded zealot preacher.
From Curiosities of Puritan Nomenclature by Bardsley, Charles W.
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.
