strait-laced

or straight-laced

[ streyt-leyst ]

/ ˈstreɪtˈleɪst /

Save This Word!

See synonyms for strait-laced on Thesaurus.com

adjective

excessively strict in conduct or morality; puritanical; prudish: strait-laced censors.

tightly laced, as a bodice.

wearing tightly laced garments.

QUIZ

CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?

There are grammar debates that never die; and the ones highlighted in the questions in this quiz are sure to rile everyone up once again. Do you know how to answer the questions that cause some of the greatest grammar debates?

Question 1 of 7

Which sentence is correct?

His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of strait-laced

late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50

OTHER WORDS FROM strait-laced

strait-lac·ed·ly

[streyt-ley-sid-lee, -leyst-lee], /ˈstreɪtˈleɪ sɪd li, -ˈleɪst li/, adverbstrait-lac·ed·ness, noun

Words nearby strait-laced

strait, straiten, straitened, straitjacket, strait-lace, strait-laced, Straits dollar, Straits Settlements, strake, Stralsund, stramash

How to use strait-laced in a sentence

Albert took the throne in July 2005 after the death of his strait-laced father, Prince Rainier.
Monaco Princess's Gilded Cage|Tom Sykes|July 2, 2011|DAILY BEAST
There was in society, though it was not strait-laced or puritanical, a general standard of "good form."
The English Novel|George Saintsbury
I have asked two gentlemen to dinner; that will be livelier, not so strait-laced; we can laugh and enjoy ourselves.
San-Cravate; or, The Messengers; Little Streams|Charles Paul de Kock
He had taken the pledge from Father Mathew before he left Ireland, and had kept it faithfully; but he was not strait-laced.
The Book of the Bush|George Dunderdale

Mr Taylor's 'solicitous and premeditated formalism' of poetical doctrine is, it must be confessed, a little too strait-laced.
Chambers' Edinburgh Journal|Various
She stopped on the path outside the decorous strait-laced houses and put her cool gloved hand up to her burning cheek.
The Cathedral|Sir Hugh Walpole

British Dictionary definitions for strait-laced

strait-laced

straight-laced

adjective

prudish or puritanical

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

strait-laced

or straight-laced

Origin of strait-laced

OTHER WORDS FROM strait-laced

Words nearby strait-laced

Words related to strait-laced

How to use strait-laced in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for strait-laced

straight-laced