prudish
/ˈpɹuːdɪʃ/adjective
prudish is spelled P-R-U-D-I-S-H: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 67,454th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, prudish means “Of excessive propriety; easily offended or shocked, especially by sexual matters” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in prudish?
| Letters | 7: P-R-U-D-I-S-H |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 5 million words; the 67,454th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is prudish?
Prudish appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 67,454th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce prudish?
- /ˈpɹuːdɪʃ/
Prudish has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-prudish.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of prudish
- more prudish comparative
- most prudish superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does prudish mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Of excessive propriety; easily offended or shocked, especially by sexual matters.
Near-synonyms: prim, priggish, prissy; straight-laced; puritanical
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Prudish in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense exaggeratedly proper:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | prude, pudibond |
| German | prüde |
| Portuguese | pudico |
| Spanish | pudibundo, santurrón, mojigato, pacato, timorato, cartuchón |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does prudish come from?
From prude + -ish.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).