prude
English edit
Etymology edit
From French prude, from Old French prude, prode, feminine of prou, prod, prud (“good, excellent, brave”), from Latin prōde. Related to proud but unrelated to prudent.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
prude (plural prudes)
- A person who is or tries to be excessively proper, especially one who is easily offended by matters of a sexual nature.
- 1907, E.M. Forster, The Longest Journey, Part I, IV [Uniform ed., p. 62]:
- He became shy. "I hadn't meant to tell you. It's not quite for a lady." For, like most men who are rather animal, he was intellectually a prude.
- 1991, Robert M. Pirsig, Lila:
- If you didn't go for Lila you're some kind of prissy old prude. If you did go for her you were some kind of dirty old man.
- 1907, E.M. Forster, The Longest Journey, Part I, IV [Uniform ed., p. 62]:
Synonyms edit
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
Translations edit
A person who is or tries to be excessively proper
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Further reading edit
- “prude”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “prude”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
Adjective edit
prude (comparative more prude, superlative most prude)
Anagrams edit
French edit
Etymology edit
Back-formation from prudefemme, feminine of prud’homme (“good man”).
Pronunciation edit
Adjective edit
prude (plural prudes)
Further reading edit
- “prude”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Italian edit
Pronunciation edit
Verb edit
prude
Anagrams edit
Middle English edit
Noun edit
prude
- Alternative form of pryde (“proudness”)
Old French edit
Adjective edit
prude