noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   The condition of being prudish; prudishness uncountable
2. 2
   excessive or affected modesty wordnet
3. 3
   Prudish behaviour countable

Synonyms

All synonyms

prudishnessantisexualityantisexualityerotophobiaerotophobiafalse modesty

Etymology

First attested in 1709. prude + -ery and from French pruderie.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.