prude

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(prūd) pronunciation
n.
One who is excessively concerned with being or appearing to be proper, modest, or righteous.

[French, short for prude femme, virtuous woman : Old French prude, feminine of prud, virtuous; see proud + French femme, woman (from Latin fēmina; see feminine).]

WORD HISTORY   Being called a prude is rarely considered a compliment, but if we dig into the history of the word prude, we find that it has a noble past. The change for the worse took place in French. French prude first had a good sense, "wise woman," but apparently a woman could be too wise or, in the eyes of some, too observant of decorum and propriety. Thus prude took on the sense in French that was brought into English along with the word, first recorded in 1704. The French word prude was a shortened form of prude femme (earlier in Old French prode femme), a word modeled on earlier preudomme, "a man of experience and integrity." The second part of this word is, of course, homme, "man." Old French prod, meaning "wise, prudent," is from Vulgar Latin prōdis with the same sense. Prōdis in turn comes from Late Latin prōde, "advantageous," derived from the verb prōdesse, "to be good." Despite this history filled with usefulness, profit, wisdom, and integrity, prude has become a term of reproach.


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noun

    A person who is too much concerned with being proper, modest, or righteous: bluenose, Mrs. Grundy, puritan, Victorian. Informal old maid. See sex/asexual.

A cynical view of the world by Ambrose Bierce


n.

A bawd hiding behind the back of her demeanor.


Random House Word Menu:

categories related to 'prude'

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Random House Word Menu by Stephen Glazier
For a list of words related to prude, see:

  See crossword solutions for the clue Prude.

A prude (Old French prude meaning honourable woman)[1] is a person who is described as (or would describe themselves as) being concerned with decorum or propriety, significantly in excess of normal prevailing community standards. They may be perceived as being more uncomfortable than most with sexuality or nudity.

The name is generally considered a pejorative term to suggest fear and contempt of human sexuality and excessive, unusual modesty stemming out from such a negative view of sexuality. It is hence unflattering, often used as an insult. A person with such attitude to sexuality may have reservations about nudity, public display of sexual affection, discussion of sexual matters, participating in romantic or sexual activity—reservations that exceed normal prevailing community standards. Exhibiting fear and discomfort with sexuality may be associated with advocating censorship of sexuality or nudity in the media, avoiding or condemning any public display of affection, however, some of these positions can have a different and even totally opposite motivation. Thus advocating limits on public displays of sexuality and nudity might be motivated by moral concerns about degrading the dignity of involved persons (for example, exploitation of women) and concerns about debasing and degrading the value of sex (especially when presented in a commercial setting) rather than by a negative attitude to sexuality.

The degree of prudery understood as fearful contempt of human sexuality can vary among different cultures and traditions.

Another use of "prude" is as a label and an insult directed to anybody having reservations resulting from standards of modesty or even any moral standards and beliefs or which are not shared by the offender. Thus one can be labelled a "prude" for expressing reservations about drinking alcohol, or consuming other drugs, or participating in mischief.

In this meaning, the term generally has a relative sense. For example, one may be viewed as having relatively lax standards regarding sexuality and drug usage compared to the overall population in which one resides, but compared to a smaller, specific subculture with more permissive standards, one may appear to be unduly strict and thus be labelled a prude when one refuses to participate in more illicit behaviors.

Synonyms of "prude" include; priscilla, prissy, goody-goody and Mrs Grundy.[2][3][4]

In historical contrast, the word prude was originally a noble compliment. Traditionally, it was usually associated with wisdom, integrity, usefulness, and profit. Even in present day language, it forms the root of the word prudence, meaning "sound judgement in practical affairs".

See also

References

  1. ^ "Prude - yourDictionary.com". Houghton Mifflin Company. http://www.yourdictionary.com/prude. Retrieved 2009-08-17. 
  2. ^ http://thesaurus.com/browse/prude
  3. ^ Room, Adrian (2002). Cassell's Dictionary of First Names. Sterling Publishing Company, Inc.. ISBN 0-304-36226-3. 
  4. ^ Thesaurus.com, retrieved February 2012

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - sippe

Nederlands (Dutch)
preuts

Français (French)
n. - bégueule, prude

Deutsch (German)
n. - prüder Mensch

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - σεμνότυφος, συνετός, φρόνιμος

Italiano (Italian)
puritano, santocchio, persona che affetta pudore

Português (Portuguese)
n. - puritano (m)

Русский (Russian)
ханжа, скромница

Español (Spanish)
n. - mojigato, gazmoño

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - pryd person

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
装成规矩的女人, 谦虚的女人, 过份正经

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 裝成規矩的女人, 謙虛的女人, 過份正經

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 얌전한 체 하는 여자

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 上品ぶる人, 淑女気取りの女

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) امرأة مفرطه في الاحتشام‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮מתחסד, מצטנע, אנין-נפש‬


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Save Me (1993 Thriller Film)
Helium (Rock Band, '90s)
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