tight-laced
Strictly proper behavior
Tight-laced describes someone rigidly proper or puritanical in moral standards—the kind of person scandalized by minor improprieties.
The term comes from corsets laced tightly for a severe silhouette, suggesting constraint and stiffness: Her tight-laced upbringing left her uncomfortable with any talk of sex.
Also spelled tightlaced.
Excessively proper and conventional
- puritanicalExcessively strict about morals
- primAffectedly proper and stiff
- priggishSmugly self-righteous
- VictorianOf a prim era
stuffy · moralistic · proper · demure · modest · squeamish · narrow-minded · censorious
Adherent to established customs
- orthodoxConforming to established belief
- conformistOne following accepted norms
- old-fashionedBelonging to earlier times
- conventionalFollowing accepted practices
hidebound · provincial · bourgeois · stodgy · buttoned-up · square · proper · respectable
Having strict self-control
- self-controlledHaving restraint over impulses
- temperateMild, avoiding extremes
- austereSeverely simple and unadorned
- abstemiousPracticing restraint with indulgences
abstinent · ascetic · moderate · sober · chaste · measured · controlled · composed
Boned waist-shaping undergarment
- bodiceFitted upper garment
- staysRemains in place
- whaleboneKeratin plates from filter-feeders
- cinchedFastened or guaranteed
waist · busk · hourglass · girdle · foundation garment · constricted
Unable to bend
- unyieldingRefusing to give way
- unbendingRefusing to change position
- uncompromisingRefusing to yield ground
- strictRigorous, without flexibility
stern · exacting · demanding · hardline · rule-bound · by-the-book · unforgiving · severe
straitlaced
Excessively proper and conventional
- puritanicalExcessively strict about morals
- primAffectedly proper and stiff
- priggishSmugly self-righteous
Victorian · stuffy · moralistic · proper · demure · modest · squeamish · narrow-minded · censorious · uptight
traditionalist
Adherent to established customs
- orthodoxConforming to established belief
- conformistOne following accepted norms
- old-fashionedBelonging to earlier times
conventional · hidebound · provincial · bourgeois · stodgy · buttoned-up · square · proper · respectable · establishment
disciplined
Having strict self-control
- self-controlledHaving restraint over impulses
- temperateMild, avoiding extremes
- austereSeverely simple and unadorned
abstemious · abstinent · ascetic · moderate · sober · chaste · measured · controlled · composed · reticent
corset
Boned waist-shaping undergarment
cinched · waist · busk · hourglass · girdle · foundation garment · constricted
rigid
Unable to bend
- unyieldingRefusing to give way
- unbendingRefusing to change position
- uncompromisingRefusing to yield ground
strict · stern · exacting · demanding · hardline · rule-bound · by-the-book · unforgiving · severe · harsh
tight-lacedpermissive
Tolerant, lacking strictness
loose · libertine · dissolute · licentious · liberal
tight-laceduninhibited
Free from self-censorship
loose · wild · free-spirited · licentious · abandoned
tight, lace, tighten, tightness, lacing, laced, tightly, tightened, tightening