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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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for straitlaced
Adjective
  • Raising the stakes were the injunctions of the Hays Code, whose puritanical rules demanded that studio filmmakers in Hollywood shy away from depictions of interracial romance.
    Mayukh Sen, The Atlantic, 1 Mar. 2025
  • 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
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
  • In the lead-up to the release of her latest album Mayhem, Gaga has embraced all things black—from a Victorian velvet Colleen Allen coat-dress to a plaid Diesel runway look.
    Hannah Jackson, Vogue, 7 Mar. 2025
  • Zoom in: The Victorian mansion was built in 1886 as the home of businessmen Abraham Klauber before it was partitioned into apartment units.
    Andrew Keatts, Axios, 7 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • There were enveloping officer’s overcoats, high-gloss leather jackets, prim gowns affixed with fur accents and stark black suits.
    Jacob Gallagher, New York Times, 26 Feb. 2025
  • Oscar sadly is too prim and proper to reward its raw sexuality.
    Randy Myers, The Mercury News, 25 Feb. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Straitlaced.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/straitlaced. Accessed 13 Mar. 2025.

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