prude
See also: Prude, prudě, prüde, and пруде
English
Etymology
From French prude, from Old French prude, prode, feminine of prou, prod, prud (“good, excellent, brave”), from Latin prōde. Related to proud but unrelated to prudent.
Pronunciation
- enPR: pro͞od, IPA(key): /pɹuːd/
Audio (UK) (file)
- Rhymes: -uːd
Noun
prude (plural prudes)
- A person who is or tries to be excessively proper, especially one who is easily offended by matters of a sexual nature.
- 1907, E.M. Forster, The Longest Journey, Part I, IV [Uniform ed., p. 62]:
- He became shy. "I hadn't meant to tell you. It's not quite for a lady." For, like most men who are rather animal, he was intellectually a prude.
- 1991, Robert M. Pirsig, Lila:
- If you didn't go for Lila you're some kind of prissy old prude. If you did go for her you were some kind of dirty old man.
- 1907, E.M. Forster, The Longest Journey, Part I, IV [Uniform ed., p. 62]:
Synonyms
- prig
- goody-goody
- puritan
- celibacist
- erotophobe
- antisexualist
Derived terms
- prudery
- prudish
Related terms
- proud
Translations
A person who is or tries to be excessively proper
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Further reading
- prude in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- prude in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
Adjective
prude (comparative more prude, superlative most prude)
- Prudish.
Anagrams
- Dupre, drupe, duper, perdu, pured, red up, red-up
French
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /pʁyd/
Audio (file)
Adjective
prude (plural prudes)
- prude
Further reading
- “prude”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Italian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈpru.de/
- Rhymes: -ude
- Hyphenation: prù‧de
Verb
prude
- third-person singular present indicative of prudere
Anagrams
- drupe
Old French
Adjective
prude
- feminine singular of pruz