What is a word for someone who doesn't party, doesn't do drugs, doesn't drink, doesn't have sex, etc.
Preferrably with more of a negative connotation.
Edit: I'm looking to use this in a self-deprecating context
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14straight edge, to me, already has a negative connotation.– MichaelChiricoJul 25, 2015 at 1:48
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1For the record, while I agree that straight-edge is definitely negative in itself, it doesn't have anything to do with not partying. People who are straight-edge often do go to parties, just without smoking, drinking, or doing drugs.– Janus Bahs JacquetJul 25, 2015 at 7:18
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7I'm so prim and proper / such a prude, I even buy covers for the legs of my table.– Mari-Lou AJul 25, 2015 at 9:59
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My word choice would be influenced by the basis or cause of the abstinence. For instance, "puritanical" (mentioned below) might pertain to someone who is abstinent because of a sense of moral superiority. Self-deprecation might imply that the person is restrained by some inner failing or conflict, in which case frigid, inhibited or chaste might work. These have sexual connotations. Teetotaler is one who abstains from all forms of booze and is neutral in connotation. Cannot think of a word with applies equally to all forms of vice.– MarkWJul 25, 2015 at 15:16
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4Actually, "squeaky-clean" or "Boy Scout" would cover most of the bases: e.g. "My life was dull and uninteresting -- I live a squeaky-clean existence ..."– MarkWJul 25, 2015 at 15:24
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18 Answers
"Square"
- A boring person.
7. Slang. a person who is ignorant of or uninterested in current fads, ideas, manners, tastes, etc.; an old-fashioned, conventional, or conservative person.
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5It's impossible to prove it, but it seems plausible that this is exactly what the term "straight-edge" is intended as a euphemistic reference to. Jul 24, 2015 at 23:49
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5Not totally sure if this is correct, but isn't square a somewhat dated and obscure colloquialism? As in, it was pretty current in the 50s and 60s for Americans but might not be immediately obvious to people nowadays that don't live in the US? Just asking, I've upvoted this because I know the term, but I have reservations about how many people would know it, if the audience was non US. Jul 26, 2015 at 18:22
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1Back in the dark ages, we sometimes called such a peron a cube -- square in all directions. But tesseract had few adherents. Too few people understood it.– ab2Jul 27, 2015 at 5:02
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@ItalianPhilosopher I agree. If I heard someone call someone else a square, I'd think the person speaking was more old-fashioned than the person they were describing.– NicoleJul 29, 2015 at 13:15
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- Often used to describe an excessively virtuous person, a do-gooder.
- A person who deliberately spoils the enjoyment of others through resentful or overly sober behavior.
Holier-than-thou (Goody Two-Shoes) and Party Pooper (Killjoy) are often used in the same contexts.
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And I've heard the full "goody-goody two-shoes" more often than either shortened version.– user867Jul 27, 2015 at 0:18
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@ab2 from the link "...a poor orphan girl named Margery Meanwell, who goes through life with only one shoe. When a rich gentleman gives her a complete pair, she is so happy that she tells everyone she has "two shoes"". The use of 'Two-Shoes' is emphasizing that everyone wears two shoes, implying they are no different from anyone else. "Goody Ten-Toes" could be used to say the same thing. REQUEST: Is there a word used to describe "Two-Shoes" and "Ten-Toes" in this context?– MrSchmeeJul 27, 2015 at 15:23
strait-laced (adj.):
- Excessively strict in conduct or morality; puritanical; prudish
'strait-laced censors'
Source: Dictionary.com
- Having old-fashioned and fixed morals, especially relating to sexual matters
Source: CDO
answered Jul 24, 2015 at 16:20
I'd say a puritan :
- A person with censorious moral beliefs, especially about pleasure and sex. (ODO)
Puritan refers to Puritanism and should not be confused with
- A person who insists on absolute adherence to traditional rules or structures, especially in language or style.
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Thanks, but I feel this word is too easy to get mixed up with "purist" in converstaion; e.g. someone could either interpret it as "purist" or think the speaker meant "purist" and misspoke– vijroxJul 24, 2015 at 18:37
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7@vijrox for what it's worth, a native speaker is unlikely to confuse the two. Jul 24, 2015 at 18:46
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yeah, the only reason I'm saying this is because I plan to use the word in a self-deprecating way, and I don't want to risk sounding boastful– vijroxJul 24, 2015 at 18:50
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4@vijrox Then rather than calling them a puritan, you could just say they are puritanical. Not likely to get confused with purist then.– EtheurJul 24, 2015 at 19:49
If you're mostly looking to condemn the sexual reservations, you can call them a "prude."
The name [prude] is generally considered a pejorative term to suggest fear and contempt of human sexuality and excessive, unusual modesty stemming from such a negative view of sexuality.
answered Jul 24, 2015 at 16:51
a person who always does everything right and always follows the rules, so much so that it becomes annoying.
A less negative word would be ascetic
a person who leads an austerely simple life, especially one who abstains from the normal pleasures of life or denies himself or herself material satisfaction.
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Those are some of the things you would expect a goody two shoes to do. They're also likely to tell on friends who break the rules.– BarmarJul 24, 2015 at 16:04
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Probably the UD definition fits best: urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=goody+two+shoes– user66974Jul 24, 2015 at 16:16
In AusE and NZE there is a word that conveys exactly what you are looking for, the negative connotation included: "a wowser"
wowser (noun, informal) "a person who is publicly critical of others and the pleasures they seek; a killjoy." Google
"In Australia, it is a derogatory word denoting a person who saps all the fun out of any given situation. Derived from the temperance movement in Australia and New Zealand at the turn of the C20th, when it was hurled as an accusation towards conservative teetotallers who were too prim and proper to relax and socialise, it has become a more generic term that can be assigned to any straight bore lacking a sense of humour, especially petty bureaucrats and Aussies politicians. from Urban Dictionary
answered Jul 24, 2015 at 16:25
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4Funny - that's totally not what I would think of if I heard that term. Here in the US, while it's not a particularly common word, if I heard someone say someone else was "a wowser", I would assume what it meant was they were super-attractive.– neminemJul 24, 2015 at 17:18
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I'm a total bore. I never go out.
I'm such an old stick-in-the-mud -- I never go anywhere or do anything, I've always got my nose to the grindstone.
Homebody is a nice word -- but probably not the tone you are looking for.
Straight and narrow, that's me, keeping with the program, toeing the party line, OR staying out of trouble. (These latter expressions only work if the context makes it clear what you're saying.)
On the wagon -- strictly speaking, it only relates to drinking, but it might work. It implies that you used to party hearty but you've stopped.
answered Jul 25, 2015 at 1:02
straight-laced (straightlaced, strait-laced, straitlaced): "Having or showing very strict moral attitudes." -- oxforddictionaries.com
If you don't mind something a bit crass, the perfect word is:
An inhibited, repressed, or excessively conventional person
answered Jul 24, 2015 at 18:28
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1In BrEng this ('tight-arse') would indicate someone who is 'tight' ie mean with money - someone who doesn't buy his round of drinks etc - without any other straight-edge connotation .– peterGJul 25, 2015 at 1:35
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I've never heard it used that way in American English. It's listed as a secondary definition in my link, though. Jul 26, 2015 at 17:35
Mrs. Grundy: a narrow-minded, conventional person who is extremely critical of any breach of propriety; a real life Ned Flanders.
For maximum negativity about prim proprietry, you need to go scatalogical.
I tend to use "anal-retentive" for this.
There's also "stiff-backed", or the more colloquial play on that, "rod up their ass".
Combine the two: "He's so anal-retentive, there's no way he'll ever get that rod out his ass".
A prude
(from Webster's Dictionary) a person who is excessively or priggishly attentive to propriety or decorum; especially : a woman who shows or affects extreme modesty
The word is borne from the French prud'homme which means "virtuous man". If vice is opposed to virtue, extending "prude" beyond sex is reasonable.
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This is almost identical to my answer. Do you have anything to add? Jul 24, 2015 at 18:30
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Maybe that, culturally, to be prude in a sexual sense generally implies an aversion to drugs and alcohol as well.– robertJul 24, 2015 at 18:41
Rigid you might find a suitable term?
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This has the makings of a strong answer, since (in my opinion) the suggestion is good. But it would be stronger if you included a definition from and a link to an authoritative dictionary to show why rigid is an option worth considering. Jul 24, 2015 at 22:12
Having grown up in the punk rock and hardcore punk scenes, with many straight edge friends, we always called them "lame edge". It wasn't very clever, but it worked.
Dudley Do-Right is a dim-witted, but conscientious and cheerful Canadian Mountie who is always trying to catch his nemesis, Snidely Whiplash, and rescue damsel in distress
In the movie "The RIght Stuff" John Glenn is sitting with his wife on the couch, discussing the other astronauts, and remarks that he suspects they think him a "Dudley Do-Right" and a "stick-in-the-mud". When his wife smiles back he accuses her with "You think so too!.", but quickly follows up with "Well, maybe that's who I am." as he proudly assumes the role.
Prig
OED: "A person who is offensively punctilious and precise in speech or behaviour; a person who cultivates or affects supposedly correct views on culture, learning, or morals, which offend or bore others; a conceited or self-important and didactic person."
straight-egg
Some of my friends and I use this term when we make fun of a straight-edge person. It's very silly, and always elicits a giggle or two, since the straight-eggs tend to take themselves very seriously.
