Definition of "tight-laced" []

• Exaggeratedly proper (adjective)

WordNet. Princeton University. 2010.

• "Often I am annoyed by KH's breathiness; but I watched this movie again when I was working on Uganda a few years ago--a smidge of it was filmed there--and she's nothing but great as Rose, the tight-laced missionary lady who relaxes into her hitherto undiscovered gifts for sex and sabotage."
• "Nevertheless, she was simple and clumsy in her ways; her vacant smile had nothing criminal in it, and you would have pronounced her innocent only from seeing the large red and blue checked kerchief that covered her stalwart bust, tucked into the tight-laced bodice of a lilac — and white-striped gown."
• "Her dress was white damask, exceeding neat; but her stays seemed not tight-laced."