puritan

1 of 2

noun

pu·​ri·​tan ˈpyu̇r-ə-tən 

1

capitalized : a member of a 16th and 17th century Protestant group in England and New England opposing as unscriptural the ceremonial worship and the prelacy of the Church of England

2

: one who practices or preaches a more rigorous or professedly purer moral code than that which prevails

puritan

2 of 2

adjective

often capitalized

: of or relating to puritans, the Puritans, or puritanism

Synonyms

Noun

• bluenose
• moralist
• Mrs. Grundy
• nice nelly
• prude
• wowser [chiefly Australian]

Examples of puritan in a Sentence

Noun

Some of the town's puritans still maintain that sex education has no place in the schools.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Centuries after being burned at the stake, a witch named Jennifer (Veronica Lake) magically reappears and tries to torment the descendant of the puritan who led the charge against her — only to fall in love with him. —Clark Collis, EW.com, 18 Oct. 2024

Naysayers and scene puritans are too late to tear down Turnstile; the Baltimore band heard it all before its third album even dropped anyway. —Pitchfork, 1 Oct. 2024

The city of puritan cant, left-wing pomp, and the meanest ... —Brian T. Allen, National Review, 4 Jan. 2024

Obviously quitting drinking is not going to turn you into any kind of puritan. —Chris Willman, Variety, 18 Jan. 2023

Across much of Europe, Merkel—that Protestant minister’s daughter—is resented as a rigid, self-righteous puritan, while support for the E.U. has fallen to historic lows. —Margaret Talbot, The New Yorker, 11 Aug. 2021

John Winthrop was an English puritan and one of the leading figures in founding the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the second major settlement in New England following Plymouth Colony. —The Rev. Mike Taylor, baltimoresun.com/maryland/carroll, 12 Sep. 2020

Instead of living in fear of office puritans, aim to delight them. —Jacob Brogan, chicagotribune.com, 4 Oct. 2019

The sometimes austere looks at times summoned images or elements of puritans, nuns, and schoolmarms — all with a subversive fashion edge. —Colleen Barry, San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 Sep. 2019

Adjective

Some of the right is still very puritan, like this uproar over Drag Queen Story Hours at libraries. —Michael Schulman, The New Yorker, 17 Sep. 2023

Arie Untung, the founder of HijrahFest, said the group was frequently criticized by other Muslims for not being puritan enough. —Sui-Lee Wee, New York Times, 12 Apr. 2023

But Auden introduced, or tried to, a certain kind of irony into American poetry, even as America was teaching him the revelations of a more puritan, more direct way of being, or of reporting being. —Nick Laird, The New York Review of Books, 16 Mar. 2023

Raised by rope, flames engulfing her sights, a priest holds a puritan porcelain doll taunting the familiar promise of a story involving wrongfully accused witches and judicial skullduggery — an early narrative fakeout. —Robert Daniels, Los Angeles Times, 1 Apr. 2021

Few people are puritan enough to forgo all of life's pleasures, not even a quiet drink or a hot bath. —Neuroskeptic, Discover Magazine, 2 Jan. 2011

American to-do behavior has a deeply puritan streak. —Clive Thompson, Wired, 27 July 2021

Sabbatarianism—the notion that the law must uphold Sunday as a day of rest and worship—was taken for granted in colonial America, as much in the supposedly more secular Virginia as in puritan New England. —Sohrab Ahmari, WSJ, 7 May 2021

The British royal family have great opulence, art, and taste, but there's a sort of puritan restraint about English decoration. —Louis Cheslaw, Condé Nast Traveler, 8 Nov. 2019

Word History

Etymology

Noun

probably from Late Latin puritas purity

First Known Use

Noun

1572, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Adjective

1581, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

puritan

noun

pu·​ri·​tan

ˈpyu̇r-ət-ᵊn

1

capitalized : a member of a 16th and 17th century Protestant group in England and New England opposing many customs of the Church of England

2

: one who practices or preaches a stricter moral code than is generally followed

puritan adjective often capitalized

puritanical

ˌpyu̇r-ə-ˈtan-i-kəl

adjective

puritanism

ˈpyu̇r-ət-ᵊn-ˌiz-əm

noun often capitalized