puritanical
/pjɚ.ɪˈtæn.ɪ.kl̩/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.56 in modern English
15
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
5
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Of or pertaining to the Puritans, or to their doctrines and practice.
adj
Precise in observance of legal or religious requirements; strict; overscrupulous; rigid (often used by way of reproach or contempt).
adj
Alternative letter-case form of puritanical.
Example Sentences
- "The host proposed divers puritanical fancies—nay, once hinted at a head of Cromwell himself; but the hostess overruled all these proposals, and stood firm by the Sun."
- "Mrs. Barrymore is of interest to me. She is a heavy, solid person, very limited, intensely respectable, and inclined to be puritanical. You could hardly conceive a less emotional subject. Yet I have told you how, on the first night here, I heard her sobbing bitterly, and since then I have more than once observed traces of tears upon her face. Some deep sorrow gnaws ever at her heart. Sometimes I wonder if she has a guilty memory which haunts her, and sometimes I suspect Barrymore of being a domestic tyrant."
- "Exogamy […] has few or none of the quaint superstitions which lend a certain picturesque charm to totemism. It is, so to say, a stern Puritanical institution. Its rigid logic, its complex rules, its elaborate terminology, its labyrinthine systems of relationship, it presents an aspect somewhat hard and repellant."
- "American society has a double standard when it comes to sexuality. We have a puritanical taboo against talking about sexuality directly, yet we are fine with the sexual images that pervade television and glossy magazines."
- "President Upham delivered a lengthy speech which covered the entire history of the Society along with some Puritanical sniffing."
- "[…] in his writings he [Benjamin Franklin] took an earthy, practical view of sex that outraged Puritanical sentiment."
Etymology
From puritanic + -al.
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /pjɚ.ɪˈtæn.ɪ.kl̩/
- British English: /pjʊəɹ.ɪˈtæn.ɪ.kəl/