puritan
Strict morals advocate
A puritan is someone who adheres strictly to moral or religious principles, often to the point of being severe or judgmental about pleasure and indulgence.
The word usually carries negative connotations—suggesting excessive rigidity or self-denial: Don't be such a puritan about having a glass of wine.
Puritanical extends this sense to describe attitudes or rules that seem unnecessarily restrictive. (Capitalized Puritan refers to the English Protestant reformers.)
Rigorous, without flexibility
- inflexibleUnable to bend
- uncompromisingRefusing to yield ground
- sternStrict or ship's aft
- unyieldingRefusing to give way
dogmatic · unbending · intolerant · judgmental · severe · harsh · authoritarian · moralistic
Voluntary forgoing of indulgences
- self-denialRestraining one's own desires
- austerityEnforced economic stringency
- temperanceHabitual moderation in behavior
- frugalityEconomical resource management
discipline · restraint · sobriety · simplicity · renunciation · fasting · penance · mortification
Lacking decoration or ornament
- austereSeverely simple and unadorned
- simpleFree of complexity
- bareLacking any covering
- modestLacking in pretension
unpretentious · functional · utilitarian · stark · unembellished · sober · homespun · undecorated
Absence of vanity
- virtueMoral goodness or merit
- innocenceFreedom from wrongdoing
- chastityAbstaining from sexual activity
- decencyMoral appropriateness in behavior
continence · wholesomeness · propriety · prudishness · prudery · demureness · respectability
strict
Rigorous, without flexibility
- inflexibleUnable to bend
- uncompromisingRefusing to yield ground
- sternStrict or ship's aft
unyielding · dogmatic · unbending · intolerant · judgmental · severe · harsh · authoritarian · moralistic · censorious
abstinence
Voluntary forgoing of indulgences
- self-denialRestraining one's own desires
- austerityEnforced economic stringency
- temperanceHabitual moderation in behavior
frugality · discipline · restraint · sobriety · simplicity · renunciation · fasting · penance · mortification · plainness
unadorned
Lacking decoration or ornament
modest · unpretentious · functional · utilitarian · stark · unembellished · sober · homespun · undecorated · humble
modesty
Absence of vanity
- virtueMoral goodness or merit
- innocenceFreedom from wrongdoing
- chastityAbstaining from sexual activity
decency · continence · wholesomeness · propriety · prudishness · prudery · demureness · respectability
- judgmental typesmoralist, moralizer, prig, prude, holier-than-thou
- abstinencesobriety, celibacy, chastity, teetotalism, fasting
- criticscritic, critics, criticizer, criticizers, faultfinder
- bigotsbigot, bigots, racist, racists, sexist
- goody two-shoesteacher's pet, suck-up, brown-noser, do-gooder, saint
- grumpsgrouch, grump, curmudgeon, sourpuss, crank
puritanlibertine
One lacking moral restraint
immoralist · reprobate · debauchee · profligate · rake
puritanhedonist
Seeker of sensual satisfaction
sybarite · sensualist · epicurean · voluptuary · pleasure-seeker
- purity testMeasuring adherence to standards
- moral purityUntainted ethical state
- water purityCleanliness of drinking supply
- purity ringAbstinence pledge jewelry
- purity of heartSincere, uncorrupted inner state
- ideological purityUncompromising commitment to doctrine