1. Someone who adheres to strict religious principles; someone opposed to sensual pleasures
   "The puritan refused to attend the dance, considering it too frivolous"
    
2. A person excessively concerned about propriety and decorum
   "He was labelled a puritan for objecting to the risqué jokes at the party";
   - prude, bluenose [US, informal]

1. Morally rigorous and strict
   "puritanic distaste for alcohol";
   - blue, puritanical

1. Strictness and austerity in conduct and religion
    
2. The beliefs and practices characteristic of Puritans (most of whom were Calvinists who wished to purify the Church of England of its Catholic aspects)

See also: nonindulgent, strict

Type of: abstainer, ascetic, disagreeable person, Protestantism, sternness, strictness, unpleasant person

Encyclopedia: Puritan, Ohio