Dictionary

pearl-clutching en · ADJ

From the image of a genteel woman clutching her pearl necklace in shock.

(derogatory, idiomatic) Prim, prudish, or easily offended.
- There's something truly irresistible about the pearl-clutching cartoons that came out during the time people thought women on bicycles were single-handedly going to bring society to ruin. 2013, Jeff Smith, Jessica Abel, Matt Madden, editors, The Best American Comics 2013, Houghton Mifflin, →ISBN, page 362:
- When John Kerry “outed” Mary Cheney in a 2004 presidential debate, it was already well known that Mary Cheney was a lesbian. You can't out the already out, no matter what pearl-clutching pundits would have you believe. 2007, Amanda Marcotte, It's a Jungle Out There: The Feminist Survival Guide to Politically Inhospitable Environments, Seal Press, →ISBN, page 141:
- Even the biggest doe-eyed, pearl-clutching Etsy muffin has to find some way to make it okay to be negative, because we have no choice. 2010, April Winchell, Regretsy: Where DIY Meets WTF, Villard Books, →ISBN, page 131:

Spelling	Features	Labels	Source
most pearl-clutching	Degree=Sup		lexicographic
more pearl-clutching	Degree=Cmp		lexicographic

From the image of a genteel woman clutching her pearl necklace in shock.

(alt-of, alternative, countable, uncountable) Alternative form of pearl clutching.
alt of pearl clutching
- Poverty, housing instability, hunger, mental health struggles and addiction can all contribute to more vulnerable pupils missing out on education, so spare us the annual pearl-clutching about taking the kids out of school to go on a sun holiday 2026 February 19, Máire Treasa Ní Cheallaigh, “Máire Treasa Ní Cheallaigh: A few missed school days in Marbella is nothing. More serious absences need our attention”, in Irish Independent:

Spelling	Features	Labels	Source
pearl-clutchings	Number=Plur		lexicographic