bluenose

American  

[bloo-nohz] / ˈbluˌnoʊz /

noun

1. a puritanical person; prude.

2. (initial capital letter) Also Blue Nose an inhabitant of the Maritime Provinces, especially of Nova Scotia.

3. Nautical Slang.

   1. a sailing vessel of Nova Scotia.

   2. a seaman on such a vessel.

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bluenose British  

/ ˈbluːˌnəʊz /

noun

1. slang a puritanical or prudish person

2. informal (often capital) a native or inhabitant of Nova Scotia

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Etymology

Origin of bluenose

First recorded in 1780–85 bluenose ( def. 2, 3 ); 1925–30, an Americanism for bluenose ( def. 1 ); blue + nose; bluenose ( def. 1 ) blue law, etc.; bluenose ( def. 2, 3 ) originally a derisive name for someone living in Nova Scotia before the Loyalists arrived; further etymology uncertain

Example Sentences

Thomas Doherty insists that the Lord-Quigley document—which became the Hays Code—was not “a grunted jeremiad from bluenose fussbudgets, but a polished treatise representing long and deep thought in aesthetics, education, communication theory, and moral philosophy.”

From The New Yorker • May 2, 2016

I’m not a bluenose, but this penchant for flesh is moronic and unhealthy.

From New York Times • Aug. 7, 2012

Old Boss Kelly, who would soon retire after 14 years in City Hall, was at pains to tell one & all that Kennelly was "no bluenose" but a "square shooter."

From Time Magazine Archive

No pious bluenose, Hirsh is a hardbitten, 34-year-old health administrator who has spent nearly twelve years studying drinkers.

From Time Magazine Archive

Our skipper was a reg'lar old bluenose, and some Tartar, I don't think!

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 152, March 28, 1917 by Various