puritan
puritan Lexical Profile
puritan Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A member of a group of English Protestants of the late 16th and 17th centuries who regarded the Reformation of the Church of England under Elizabeth I as incomplete and sought to simplify and regulate forms of worship.
"Many Puritans emigrated to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 1630s to establish a community based on their religious ideals."
A person with censorious moral beliefs, especially one who regards pleasure and luxury as sinful or self-indulgent.
"You don't have to be a puritan to think that the film's gratuitous scenes were overdone."
• adjective
Relating to or characteristic of the historical Protestant Puritans of the 16th and 17th centuries.
"Early New England architecture reflects the plain, functional aesthetic of Puritan settlers."
Practicing or affecting strict religious or moral behavior; austere and disapproving of pleasure or self-indulgence.
"He maintained a puritan work ethic that left very little time for leisure or entertainment."
• Rhymes for puritan
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Coined in the late 16th century (originally as a derogatory label) from Late Latin puritas ('purity'), from Latin purus ('pure'), modeled on earlier religious group names ending in '-an' because its adherents sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices.