Dictionary

prudely en · ADV

Etymology

From prude + -ly.

Meanings

1. In the manner of a prude; prudishly.
   • Had late observed my silent tear, That I was press'd, and press'd most rudely, Not to behave so very prudely ; 1836, Alexander John Ellis, “My Recantation”, in Verses, Cambridge: Metcalfe and Palmer, page 107:
   • When you family-prayed on Sunday nights— The living room a crowd of things to do Each prudely solemn word defined your rights. 1960, Thomas McAfee, “The Matriarch”, in Poems and Stories, University of Missouri Press, page 3:

Forms