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Glite Dictionary
🧐 A moralist 🇨🇦 A Nova Scotian
bluenose

bluenose

1 9.3
A person who is strict about morals and proper behavior
  • noun
  • /ˈbluːnoʊz/
  • Offensive
translation icon : puritano
  • Don't be such a bluenose, Jeff.

Examples

  • Issues such as racial preferences can strike chords with Americans in diverse settings, from blue-collar coffee breaks to bluenose teas.

    Academic text (2001)

  • The God-almighty Coleses would see to that with a quiet word to the bluenose Boston lawyer who handled her meager affairs.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • Boy, are we going to hear some howling when the bluenoses find out about that?

    Fiction book (1993)

  • That's all he can do, since all he is is a projection of a mob of venal bluenoses' sense of entitlement.

    Blog text (29)

  • My grandfather, a real bluenose, disapproved of any form of dancing or loud music.

  • The committee decided to ban the event because the bluenoses raised objections about its suitability.

  • She was known as a bluenose in the community for her strict rules on dress codes.

Synonyms

hardliner
vsbluenose
19 7.5

A person who refuses to change their beliefs, especially in politics

is strict about morals and proper behavior rather than political ideology
puritan
vsbluenose
6 7.2

A person who thinks people should follow very strict moral or religious rules and dislikes fun

is strict about morals and proper behavior in general social life
moralist
vsbluenose
3 7.0

A person who insists others follow strict rules about right and wrong

is more about conservative personal disapproval than actively enforcing rules

Antonyms

liberal
983 4.4

Having political views that support social change and people's freedoms

free spirit
23 4.8

A person who follows their own way and ignores social rules

How Strict

puritan
6 7.2
bluenose
  • Offensive
1 9.3
conservative
∞ 4.6
libertine
  • NSFW
2 9.6

Surface Forms

bluenose singular
bluenoses plural

Morphology

bluenose = blue + nose (semi-transparent) = blue + nose

There is a historical/idiomatic link between 'blue' (as in 'blue laws' or moral strictness) and being 'blue-nosed' (prudish), but the connection is not directly inferable from literal meanings by an average learner.

Etymology

Bluenose for a very strict or moral person comes from the use of 'blue' for strict moral rules, as in blue laws, so a bluenose is someone who often disapproves of others for not following 'proper behaviour'.