Definition of "prude" [prude]

• One who is excessively concerned with being or appearing to be proper, modest, or righteous. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "I read once that a prude is a good woman in the worst sense of the word."
• ""Oh, there you are out, indeed, cousin Wright! she's more of what they call a prude than a coquette.""
• "Under the article on “Deshoulières” the compiler pretends that lady was the same who was designated under the term prude (précieuse) in Boileau’s satire upon women."