excessively proper or modest in speech, conduct, dress, etc.

characteristic of a prude.

adjective

bold , brave , extroverted , outgoing

adjective

affected , artificial , austere , bigoted , conventional , demure , fastidious , finicky * , genteel , illiberal , mincing , narrow , narrow-minded , offish , overexact , overmodest , overnice , precise , pretentious , priggish * , prim , prissy * , proper , puritanical , rigid , rigorous , scrupulous , severe , simpering , square , squeamish * , starchy * , stern , stiff * , stilted , straitlaced , stuffy , uptight * , victorian *notes:prudent means careful and sensible or marked by sound judgment , while prudish means excessively proper or modest in speech , conduct or dress , bluenosed , old-maidish , priggish , prissy , strait-laced , victorian , lily-white , smug , squeamish , straightlaced , timid