Pu·ri·tan·ism (py r  -tn-z  m)n. 1. The practices and doctrines of the Puritans. 2. puritanism Scrupulous moral rigor, especially hostility to social pleasures and indulgences: "Puritanism is the source of our greatest hypocrisies and most crippling illusions" (Molly Haskell). |
Puritanism
1. the principles and practices of a movement within 16th-century Anglicanism, demanding reforms in doctrine, polity, and worship, and greater strictness in religious discipline, chiefly in terms of Calvinist principles.
2. a political party developed from the religious movement in the 17th century that successfully gained control of England through revolution and briefly attempted to put Puritan principles to work on all levels of English life and government.
3. U.S. History. the principles and practices of the Congregationalist members of the religious movement who, having migrated to America in 1620, attempted to set up a theocratic state in which clergy had authority over both religious and civil life. — Puritan, n., adj.
See also: Protestantism
2. a political party developed from the religious movement in the 17th century that successfully gained control of England through revolution and briefly attempted to put Puritan principles to work on all levels of English life and government.
3. U.S. History. the principles and practices of the Congregationalist members of the religious movement who, having migrated to America in 1620, attempted to set up a theocratic state in which clergy had authority over both religious and civil life. — Puritan, n., adj.
ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
| Noun | 1. | Puritanism - the beliefs and practices characteristic of Puritans (most of whom were Calvinists who wished to purify the Church of England of its Catholic aspects) church service, church - a service conducted in a house of worship; "don't be late for church" Protestantism - the theological system of any of the churches of western Christendom that separated from the Roman Catholic Church during the Reformation England - a division of the United Kingdom |
| 2. | Puritanism - strictness and austerity in conduct and religion sternness, strictness - uncompromising resolution |
puritanism
noun strictness, austerity, severity, zeal, piety, rigidity, fanaticism, narrowness, asceticism, moralism, prudishness, rigorism, piousness the tight-lipped puritanism of the Scottish literary world
Quotations
"Puritanism: The haunting fear that someone, somewhere may be happy" [H.L. Mencken Chrestomathy]
"Puritanism: The haunting fear that someone, somewhere may be happy" [H.L. Mencken Chrestomathy]
Translations
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