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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Examples 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
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By then, America had become a lot less puritanical.Michael Schulman, The New Yorker, 22 Dec. 2024
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Babygirl tries to deftly waltz over this minefield of a topic without a sense of puritanical judgement or heavy panting, but with as much emphasis on Romy’s need for this transfer of power to tap into her erogenous zones.David Fear, Rolling Stone, 23 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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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
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Emily, perhaps true to her prudish Adderall-y millennial type, is not especially flirty.Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 16 Aug. 2024
Adjective
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Our Most Popular Stories of 2021 This year, readers were into peanut butter and jelly, semi-conductors, bayonets, Victorian knitting manuals, plus the hard-working dogs of Medieval Europe.JSTOR Daily, JSTOR Daily, 8 Jan. 2025
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Darwin’s neighbor John Lubbock was among the first Victorian naturalists to perform language experiments on an animal.Camille Bromley Gabra Zackman Krish Seenivasan David Mason, New York Times, 6 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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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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Last year may have given us Brat Summer, but things are moving in a decidedly prim direction for 2025.Elle Turner, Glamour, 10 Jan. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Straitlaced.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/straitlaced. Accessed 20 Jan. 2025.
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