Victorianism

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The behaviour or beliefs of the Victorians, especially prudery. countable, uncountable

    "These [sex manuals] reflect an age in which, it appears, the only hope for heterosexual love is technical know-how. Supposedly designed to free the reader from Victorianism and guilt, these books constitute clumsy, self-conscious attempts to liberate the reader."

  2. 2
    An expression or idiom characteristic of Victorian times. countable, uncountable

Example

More examples

"These [sex manuals] reflect an age in which, it appears, the only hope for heterosexual love is technical know-how. Supposedly designed to free the reader from Victorianism and guilt, these books constitute clumsy, self-conscious attempts to liberate the reader."

Etymology

From Victorian + -ism.

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