prudes
Easily shocked types
Prudes is the plural of prude—people who are excessively modest or easily shocked by matters relating to sex or nudity.
The word carries disapproval, suggesting the person's standards are unreasonably strict or performative: Don't be such prudes—it's just a nude beach.
Prudish is the adjective form.
Excessively strict about morals
- strait-lacedExcessively proper and strict
- chasteAbstaining from sexual activity
- virtuousMorally excellent, principled
- purityUncontaminated quality
decency · propriety · wholesomeness · moralistic · sanctimonious · holier-than-thou · priggish · Victorian
Lacking in pretension
- demureModestly reserved in manner
- bashfulUncomfortably self-conscious
- reservedRestrained in manner
- inhibitedHeld back by self-consciousness
repressed · restrained · reticent · buttoned-up · stiff · formal · proper · prim
Rigorous, without flexibility
- rigidUnable to bend
- inflexibleUnable to bend
- austereSeverely simple and unadorned
- sternStrict or ship's aft
unyielding · orthodox · conservative · old-fashioned · traditional · narrow-minded · provincial · parochial
Expressing unfavorable opinion
- judgmentalInclined to criticize others
- tut-tuttingMaking disapproving sounds
- frownDisapproving facial expression
- censureFormal institutional disapproval
reproach · condemnation · sneering · disdain · contempt · scorn · criticism · snobbish
puritanical
Excessively strict about morals
- strait-lacedExcessively proper and strict
- chasteAbstaining from sexual activity
- virtuousMorally excellent, principled
purity · decency · propriety · wholesomeness · moralistic · sanctimonious · holier-than-thou · priggish · Victorian · goody-goody
modest
Lacking in pretension
inhibited · repressed · restrained · reticent · buttoned-up · stiff · formal · proper · prim · prissy
strict
Rigorous, without flexibility
- rigidUnable to bend
- inflexibleUnable to bend
- austereSeverely simple and unadorned
stern · unyielding · orthodox · conservative · old-fashioned · traditional · narrow-minded · provincial · parochial · stuffy
disapproving
Expressing unfavorable opinion
- judgmentalInclined to criticize others
- tut-tuttingMaking disapproving sounds
- frownDisapproving facial expression
censure · reproach · condemnation · sneering · disdain · contempt · scorn · criticism · snobbish · finger-wagging
- reformersreformers, reformer, social reformers, social reformer, political reformer
prudeslibertines
Morally dissolute individuals
hedonists · debauchees · sensualists · sybarites · lechers
prudesfree spirits
Independent, unconventional people
adventurers · thrill-seekers · wild ones · party animals · daredevils
- Dear PrudenceAdvice column persona
- Victorian prudery19th-century sexual repression
- financial prudenceCareful management of money
prudence, imprudent, prudish, prude, prudential, imprudence, prudery, prudishness, imprudently