Puritanism

American  

[pyoor-i-tn-iz-uhm] / ˈpyʊər ɪ tnˌɪz əm /

noun

1. the principles and practices of the Puritans.

2. (sometimes lowercase) extreme strictness in moral or religious matters, often to excess; rigid austerity.

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Other Word Forms

• anti-Puritanism noun
• pro-Puritanism noun

Etymology

Origin of Puritanism

First recorded in 1565–75; Puritan + -ism

Example Sentences

The case, however, made Comstock’s name synonymous with “prudery, Puritanism and officious meddling,” according to Broun and Leech.

From Los Angeles Times • May 18, 2023

He might have vanished into Boston history were it not for the British, who spectacularly and catastrophically failed to understand what made Massachusetts citizens, forged by an independent version of Puritanism, tick.

From Seattle Times • Nov. 4, 2022

The Pilgrims who initially arrived in Plymouth practiced an extreme form of Puritanism that broke with the Church of England.

From Washington Post • Jun. 2, 2022

Nor were his counterparts in the New World, where Puritanism found space to thrive.

From The Guardian • Jun. 15, 2020

In 1629 Archbishop Laud took measures to suppress church lectureships, which were an innovation of Puritanism.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 6 "Home, Daniel" to "Hortensius, Quintus" by Various