grundy grundyism

  • 1grundyism — 1836, from Mrs. Grundy, prudish character in Thomas Morton s 1798 play Speed the Plow, play and playwright otherwise now forgotten, but the line What would Mrs. Grundy say? became proverbial …

    Etymology dictionary

  • 2Grundy — [grun′dē] n. Mrs. [a neighbor repeatedly referred to (but never appearing) in Tom Morton s play Speed the Plough (1798) with the question “What will Mrs. Grundy say?”] a personification of conventional social disapproval, prudishness, narrow… …

    English World dictionary

  • 3grundyism — [19] The term grundyism ‘prudishness’ was based on Mrs Grundy, a character in Thomas Moreton’s play Speed the Plough 1798 who became proverbial for her extreme rigidity in matters of sexual morality. Dame Ashfield, another character in the play,… …

    The Hutchinson dictionary of word origins

  • 4grundyism — [19] The term grundyism ‘prudishness’ was based on Mrs Grundy, a character in Thomas Moreton’s play Speed the Plough 1798 who became proverbial for her extreme rigidity in matters of sexual morality. Dame Ashfield, another character in the play,… …

    Word origins

  • 5Grundyism — noun excessive or affected modesty • Syn: ↑primness, ↑prudishness, ↑prudery • Derivationally related forms: ↑prudish (for: ↑prudishness), ↑prim ( …

    Useful english dictionary

  • 6grundy — n. (pl. ies) (in full Mrs Grundy) a person embodying conventional propriety and prudery. Derivatives: Grundyism n. Etymology: a person repeatedly mentioned in T. Morton s comedy Speed the Plough (1798) …

    Useful english dictionary

  • 7Grundyism — /grun dee iz euhm/, n. 1. a prudish adherence to conventionality, esp. in personal behavior. 2. (l.c.) an instance of such prudishness. [1830 40; GRUNDY + ISM] * * * …

    Universalium

  • 8Grundyism — /ˈgrʌndiɪzəm/ (say grundeeizuhm) noun prudery; narrow mindedness; excessive attachment to conventional behaviour. {after Mrs Grundy, a person mentioned in Thomas Morton s play Speed the Plough (1798) …

  • 9Mrs Grundy — For the Archie Comics character, see Miss Grundy. Mrs Grundy is the name of an imaginary English character, who typifies the disciplinary control of the conventional proprieties of society over conduct, the tyrannical pressure of the opinion of… …

    Wikipedia

  • 10Mother Grundy — is an etiological myth referring to a mountain, the Madre Grande .[1] Myth refers to a woman who is literally as old as the hills who came from this mountain, clinging to the old ways when the original inhabitants of Mexico and California lived… …

    Wikipedia