prigs
Self-satisfied scolds
Prigs is the plural of prig, a person who displays excessive self-righteousness about moral or social standards.
Prigs take smug satisfaction in their own propriety and look down on others: The neighborhood prigs complained about the lawn ornaments.
The word suggests someone tiresome rather than genuinely virtuous—concerned more with appearances than substance.
Excessively strict about morals
- strait-lacedExcessively proper and strict
- primAffectedly proper and stiff
- properSocially appropriate
- demureModestly reserved in manner
modest · Victorian · staid · squeamish · stuffy · fussy · fastidious · inhibited
Feigned moral superiority
- holier-than-thouSmugly moralistic toward others
- moralizingDelivering ethical lectures
- judgmentalInclined to criticize others
- censoriousSeverely critical in judgment
preachy · smug · superior · condescending · self-satisfaction · pompousness · snobbery · haughtiness
Excessive focus on trivialities
- fussinessExcessive concern over trivialities
- punctiliousExcessively careful about details
- meticulousShowing extreme attention to detail
- fastidiousExcessively attentive to detail
hair-splitting · quibbling · perfectionism · scrupulous · stickler · rule-bound · preciseness · exactness
puritanical
Excessively strict about morals
- strait-lacedExcessively proper and strict
- primAffectedly proper and stiff
- properSocially appropriate
demure · modest · Victorian · staid · squeamish · stuffy · fussy · fastidious · inhibited · repressed
sanctimoniousness
Feigned moral superiority
- holier-than-thouSmugly moralistic toward others
- moralizingDelivering ethical lectures
- judgmentalInclined to criticize others
censorious · preachy · smug · superior · condescending · self-satisfaction · pompousness · snobbery · haughtiness · priggishness
nitpicking
Excessive focus on trivialities
- fussinessExcessive concern over trivialities
- punctiliousExcessively careful about details
- meticulousShowing extreme attention to detail
fastidious · hair-splitting · quibbling · perfectionism · scrupulous · stickler · rule-bound · preciseness · exactness · literalism
prigslibertines
Morally dissolute individuals
bohemians · nonconformists · rebels · free spirits · mavericks
prigslibertines
Morally dissolute individuals
hedonists · sensualists · sybarites · debauchees · rakes