A prude is a person with a very sensitive attitude and narrowness towards

custom Custom, customary, or consuetudinary may refer to: Traditions, laws, and religion * Convention (norm), a set of agreed, stipulated or generally accepted rules, norms, standards or criteria, often taking the form of a custom * Mores, what is wid ...

and

morality Morality () is the categorization of intentions, Decision-making, decisions and Social actions, actions into those that are ''proper'', or ''right'', and those that are ''improper'', or ''wrong''. Morality can be a body of standards or principle ...

. The word prude comes from the

Old French Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th which was the source of prude in the 18th century. According to Heinrich August Pierer">Pierer's Universal Lexikon in 1861, prudery is "modest in an exaggerated and affected way; seeming delicate, squeamish". In a broader sense, prudery refers to an attitude of mind that aims to largely exclude sexual expressions of any kind in public and sometimes also in the private sphere. This applies above all to the portrayal or even suggestion of eroticism in tone and image form, fashion, mass media, literature, historical testimonies, and conversation.

Pejorative use

The word is generally considered in modern times a pejorative term to suggest fear and contempt of

human sexuality Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...

and excessive, unusual

modesty Modesty, sometimes known as demureness, is a mode of dress and deportment which intends to avoid the encouraging of sexual attraction in others. The word ''modesty'' comes from the Latin word ''wikt:modestus, modestus'' which means 'keeping with ...

stemming from such a negative view of sexuality. It is hence unflattering, and often used as an insult. A person with such an attitude to sexuality may have reservations about nudity, public display of sexual affection, discussion of sexual matters, or 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 Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...

of sexuality or nudity in the media, avoiding or condemning any

public display of affection Public displays of affection (PDA) are acts of physical intimacy in the view of others. What is considered to be an acceptable display of affection varies with respect to culture and context. Some organizations have rules limiting or prohib ...

. 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 A moral (from Latin ''morālis'') is a message that is conveyed or a lesson to be learned from a story or event. The moral may be left to the hearer, reader, or viewer to determine for themselves, or may be explicitly encapsulated in a maxim. ...

standards and beliefs which are not shared by the offender. Thus one can be labeled a "prude" for expressing reservations about

drinking alcohol Alcohol, sometimes referred to by the chemical name ethanol, is the active ingredient in alcoholic drinks such as beer, wine, and distilled spirits (hard liquor). Alcohol is a central nervous system (CNS) depressant, decreasing electrical ...

, consuming other drugs, or participating in mischief. When prudishness or prudish attitudes are viewed as part of a wider process it is sometimes called ''prudification''. 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 labeled a prude when one refuses to participate in more liberal seeming behaviors. Synonyms of "prude" include: goody-goody (in certain contexts) and

Mrs Grundy Mrs Grundy is a figurative name for an extremely conventional or priggish person, a personification of the tyranny of conventional propriety. A tendency to be overly fearful of what others might think is sometimes referred to as grundyism. Mrs ...

.Thesaurus.com
retrieved February 2012

References

{{reflist Pejorative terms for people *

Pejorative use

See also

References