Bluenosed

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. A certain type of individual is characterized by excessive propriety or moral rigidity, often displaying overly conventional attitudes or prudish behavior
2. The label refers to a person who exemplifies strict moral values and is marked by a disposition toward prim behavior or excessive conventionality
3. A particular individual is defined by an inclination towards extreme moral conservatism and often demonstrates an attitude of excessive propriety or prudishness

Etymology: "Bluenosed" is simply the closed-up spelling of "blue-nosed," and the hyphenated form is the one that carries the history. The "blue nose" was the image of a person so sour and disapproving that their face seemed to turn a chilly shade of blue, and the word for the type who embodied such rigid propriety grew out of that picture. Someone labelled blue-nosed is not merely strict but visibly so, the kind of person whose disapproval shows on the face. The adjective is used of people who hold severe moral standards and cling to prim, conventional behavior. Its tone is mildly mocking, aimed at a stiffness that the speaker finds faintly comic rather than admirable. The compound is built from the ordinary colour "blue" and "nose," and its meaning depends on the joining of those two plain words rather than on any borrowed root.

Synonyms: puritanical, priggish