tight-laced
Adjective: 1. Excessively strict or rigid in behavior, morals, or dress; prudish: Describes a person who is extremely conventional and disapproves of anything perceived as improper or immodest.
The adjective "tight-laced" is used to describe a person, their attitudes, or their behavior. It carries a critical or disapproving tone, suggesting that the person is overly strict, old-fashioned, or judgmental. It often refers to strictness regarding social propriety, sexual morals, or modesty in dress.
- Her tight-laced upbringing made it difficult for her to relax and enjoy the party.
- The novel satirizes the tight-laced manners of Victorian society.
- He was considered tight-laced by his colleagues because he never joined them for casual drinks.
- The term can be used metaphorically to describe institutions or rules perceived as repressively strict.
- The school's tight-laced policies forbade any form of student expression.
- Strait-laced (adjective): This is the more common modern spelling and is synonymous with "tight-laced."
- My straitlaced aunt was shocked by the modern art exhibition.
- Prim (adjective): Neat, formal, and morally precise, often in a way that seems excessive.
- Prudish (adjective): Easily shocked by matters related to sex or nudity.
- Prudish
- Prim
- Proper
- Puritanical
- Victorian
- Stuffy
- Liberal
- Permissive
- Broad-minded
- Unconventional
- Bohemian
"Tight-laced" originates from the literal practice of wearing tightly laced corsets, which were associated with rigid bodily control and strict social conventions of dress and behavior. The term evolved to describe a similarly rigid attitude toward morality and propriety. The variant "strait-laced" comes from "strait" meaning "narrow or tight," reinforcing the idea of constriction.
- exaggeratedly proper
- my straitlaced Aunt Anna doesn't approve of my miniskirts