variants
or straightlaced
as in puritanical
given to or marked by very conservative standards regarding personal behavior or morals
a very straitlaced old lady who believed that cleavage was something that should be shown by rock crystals, not respectable women
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of straitlaced
These misfit progeny get a shot at redemption, far from their nefarious parents, and attend a straitlaced boarding school teeming with the children of Disney sweethearts.
—
Ew Staff, EW.com, 1 July 2024
This timeless comedic tandem — where Lucy's zany antics collided with Ricky's straitlaced demeanor — kept generations in stitches for a remarkable 180 episodes.
—James Mercadante and Johnny Loftus, EW.com, 22 Sep. 2023
Compton plays Raina, a young American woman who travels through Greece and aboard a barge with her straitlaced American boyfriend (Gary Collins) and a gay French artist (Gian Pietro Calasso).
—The New Yorker, 22 Dec. 2023
Based on the book by Mary Rogers, and a remake of the 1976 film, Disney’s version directed by Mark Waters follows a straitlaced psychologist, Tess (Jamie Lee Curtis), and her punk teenage daughter Anna (Lohan), who switch bodies under an accidental spell.
—Erica Gonzales, ELLE, 5 Aug. 2023
See all Example Sentences for straitlaced 
Ew Staff, EW.com, 1 July 2024
This timeless comedic tandem — where Lucy's zany antics collided with Ricky's straitlaced demeanor — kept generations in stitches for a remarkable 180 episodes.
—James Mercadante and Johnny Loftus, EW.com, 22 Sep. 2023
Compton plays Raina, a young American woman who travels through Greece and aboard a barge with her straitlaced American boyfriend (Gary Collins) and a gay French artist (Gian Pietro Calasso).
—The New Yorker, 22 Dec. 2023
Based on the book by Mary Rogers, and a remake of the 1976 film, Disney’s version directed by Mark Waters follows a straitlaced psychologist, Tess (Jamie Lee Curtis), and her punk teenage daughter Anna (Lohan), who switch bodies under an accidental spell.
—Erica Gonzales, ELLE, 5 Aug. 2023
See all Example Sentences for straitlaced
Recent Examples of Synonyms for straitlaced
Adjective
-
With their charismatic leadership, organizational skills, puritanical ideology, and internal solidarity, HTS and other militant groups were the unintended beneficiaries.—
Fawaz A. Gerges,
Foreign Affairs,
27 Jan. 2025
-
By then, America had become a lot less puritanical.—
Michael Schulman,
The New Yorker,
22 Dec. 2024
Adjective
-
The Comstock Act is a relic, not just of a more prudish era in American history, but of an age when the sort of individual rights that modern Americans take for granted effectively did not exist.—
Ian Millhiser,
Vox,
27 May 2024
-
Emily, perhaps true to her prudish Adderall-y millennial type, is not especially flirty.—
Jackson McHenry,
Vulture,
16 Aug. 2024
Adjective
-
From the slums of Victorian London, the Baker Street Four of the series are Billy, who see himself as the brains of the band of urchins, Tom, an acrobat and ace pickpocket, and Charlotte, the resourceful one of the group.—
Stewart Clarke,
Deadline,
11 Feb. 2025
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But behind its grand Victorian façade, a colony of moths living in the insulation wreaked havoc across the house, which contains a pool, spa, gym, cinema and wine room.—
Issy Ronald,
CNN,
11 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
Who can forget the sparkling black halterneck dress worn by Isabella Rossellini’s femme fatale lounge singer in Blue Velvet, or the prim cardigans worn by Naomi Watts in Muholland Drive as Betty, a wide-eyed, small-town girl arriving in Los Angeles for the first time?—
Liam Hess,
Vogue,
17 Jan. 2025
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One sketch, vetoed by the network, had Tomlin playing a prim mother, Mrs. Beasley, calling her son in from the back yard, which was actually a war zone, ablaze with exploding mortar shells.—
Susan Morrison,
The New Yorker,
13 Jan. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Straitlaced.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/straitlaced. Accessed 21 Feb. 2025.
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