puritan
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Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
puritan¹
- /ˈpjʊə.ɹɪ.tən/ UK
- /ˈpjɔː-/ UK
- /ˈpjʊ.ɹɪ.tən/ US
- /ˈpjɜ-/ US
Where it comes from
See Puritan.
noun puritans
- A puritanical person. These new puritans have turned out to be surprisingly unskilled and inexperienced - very different from my generation who invented wife-swapping, orgies and free love in the late Sixties and early Seventies.
adjective more puritan · most puritan
-
Acting or behaving according to the Puritan morals (e.g. propagating modesty), especially with regard to pleasure, nudity and sex; ascetic.
A pietistic protestantism, rigid, self-righteous, unintellectual, obsessed with puritan morality to the point where hypocrisy was its automatic companion, dominated this desolate epoch.
Similar: prude, puritanical
Puritan²
- /ˈpjʊɹɪtən/ US
- /ˈpjɚɪtən/ US
- /ˈpjʊəɹɪtən/ UK
- /ˈpjɔːɹɪtən/ UK
Where it comes from
Probably from purity + -an, because they sought to purify Church of England worship of what they perceived as Roman Catholic aspects. The capitalised form preceded the lowercase form puritan.
noun Puritans
- A member of a particular Protestant religious sect advocating greater purity and piety.
adjective more Puritan · most Puritan
- Alternative letter-case form of puritan It’s a seedy time of the night and Jacky is telling me about sailors and their needs. A man called P. C. Alexander, an ex-Indian High-Commissioner in London has cleaned up Madras. There’s a very Puritan atmosphere here now, and the seamen are not happy. ‘All ship’s crew very happy with Calcutta. Can
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: puritanical, prude, nonindulgent, blue, puritanic, prig, ascetic, pietist, rigorist, moralist, killjoy, abstainer, purist, teetotaler, disciplinarian, stickler
Translations
Every language
noun puritanical person
| Español | puritano |
|---|---|
| Italiano | puritano |
| Русский | пурита́нин puritánin |
adj having very strict moral standards
| Español | puritano |
|---|---|
| Français | puritain |
| Deutsch | puritanisch |
| Italiano | puritano |
| Русский | пурита́нский puritánskij |
noun member of a particular Protestant religious sect
| Español | puritano |
|---|---|
| 中文 | 清教徒 qīngjiàotú |
| Français | puritain |
| Deutsch | Puritaner |
| Русский | пурита́нин puritánin |
Talk about this word "puritan." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/puritan. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. puritan. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/puritan "puritan." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/puritan.Cite this
@misc{puritan_2026,
title = {puritan},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/puritan},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
