clutching pearls
Theatrical moral outrage
Clutching pearls describes a reaction of exaggerated shock or outrage, especially over something relatively minor or something others find unremarkable.
The image is of a scandalized person reflexively grasping their pearl necklace in horror.
The phrase is almost always used mockingly to dismiss someone's offense as performative or prudish: Oh, she's clutching pearls because I said "damn" in front of the children.
Pearl-clutching works the same way as a noun or adjective.
- gaspingBreathing in sharp gulps
- good heavensQuaint surprise utterance
- well I neverExclamation of surprised indignation
- shockedDeeply startled or appalled
- scandalizedDeeply offended morally
moral outrage · outraged · clutching · necklace · Victorian · prudish · offended · aghast · horrified · mock horror · dramatic · fainting · fainting couch · the vapors · couch · vapors · propriety · morality
- shock reactionsgasp, wide eyes, jaw drop, shocked face, open mouth
- theatricstheatrics, dramatics, melodrama, histrionics, theatricality
- gesturesgesture, hand gestures, applause, hand raise, tap on shoulder
- reactionsreaction, response, gasp, wince, flinch
clutching pearlstaking it in stride
unfazed · unbothered · unflappable · rolling with the punches · water off a duck's back
clutching pearlsunshockable
Cannot be appalled
worldly · irreverent · edgy · open-minded · anything goes
clutch, clutched, clutches, pearl, pearls, pearly, pearlescent