as in Victorian
given to or marked by very conservative standards regarding personal behavior or morals
the novel's wildly off base portrayal of 18th-century aristocrats as nice-nelly exemplars of decorum
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in puritan
a person who is greatly concerned with seemly behavior and morality especially regarding sexual matters
some nice nelly bowdlerized this collection of wartime ditties that were lustily sung by the men around the campfire
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nice-nelly
Adjective
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But behind its grand Victorian façade, a colony of moths living in the insulation wreaked havoc across the house, which contains a pool, spa, gym, cinema and wine room.—
Issy Ronald,
CNN,
11 Feb. 2025 -
From the slums of Victorian London, the Baker Street Four of the series are Billy, who see himself as the brains of the band of urchins, Tom, an acrobat and ace pickpocket, and Charlotte, the resourceful one of the group.—
Stewart Clarke,
Deadline,
11 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Centuries after being burned at the stake, a witch named Jennifer (Veronica Lake) magically reappears and tries to torment the descendant of the puritan who led the charge against her — only to fall in love with him.—
Clark Collis,
EW.com,
18 Oct. 2024
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Naysayers and scene puritans are too late to tear down Turnstile; the Baltimore band heard it all before its third album even dropped anyway.—
Pitchfork,
Pitchfork,
1 Oct. 2024
Adjective
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With their charismatic leadership, organizational skills, puritanical ideology, and internal solidarity, HTS and other militant groups were the unintended beneficiaries.—
Fawaz A. Gerges,
Foreign Affairs,
27 Jan. 2025
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By then, America had become a lot less puritanical.—
Michael Schulman,
The New Yorker,
22 Dec. 2024
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Thesaurus Entries Near nice-nelly
Cite this Entry
“Nice-nelly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nice-nelly. Accessed 16 Feb. 2025.
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