purist

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: pur=ist

CIDE DICTIONARY

purist, n. [Cf. F. puriste.].

•  One who aims at excessive purity or nicety, esp. in the choice of language.  [1913 Webster]

  "He [Fox] . . . purified vocabulary with a scrupulosity unknown to any purist."  [1913 Webster]
•  One who maintains that the New Testament was written in pure Greek.  M. Stuart.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

purist, n. a stickler for or advocate of scrupulous purity, esp. in language or art.

Derivative

purism n. puristic adj.

Etymology

F puriste f. pur PURE

THESAURUS

purist

Pharisee, ass, bigot, bitter-ender, bluestocking, bullethead, classicist, conservative, die-hard, diehard, dogmatist, donkey, fanatic, formalist, hardnose, intransigeant, intransigent, last-ditcher, maverick, mule, pedant, perverse fool, pighead, plain stylist, positivist, precieuse, precieux, precisian, precisionist, puritan, standpat, standpatter, stickler, stuffed shirt, traditionalist

ROGET THESAURUS

purist

Elegance

N elegance, purity, grace, ease, gracefulness, readiness, concinnity, euphony, numerosity, Atticism, classicalism, classicism, well rounded periods, well turned periods, flowing periods, the right word in the right place, antithesis, purist, elegant, polished, classical, Attic, correct, Ciceronian, artistic, chaste, pure, Saxon, academical, graceful, easy, readable, fluent, flowing, tripping, unaffected, natural, unlabored, mellifluous, euphonious, euphemism, euphemistic, numerose, rhythmical, felicitous, happy, neat, well put, neatly put, well expressed, neatly expressed.

Affectation

N affectation, affectedness, acting a part, pretense boasting, charlatanism, quackery, shallow profundity, pretension, airs, pedantry, purism, precisianism, euphuism, teratology, mannerism, simagree, grimace, conceit, foppery, dandyism, man millinery, coxcombry, puppyism, stiffness, formality, buckram, prudery, demureness, coquetry, mock modesty, minauderie, sentimentalism, mauvais honte, false shame, affector, performer, actor, pedant, pedagogue, doctrinaire, purist, euphuist, mannerist, grimacier, lump of affectation, precieuse ridicule, bas bleu, blue stocking, poetaster, prig, charlatan, petit maitre, flatterer, coquette, prude, puritan, affected, full of affectation, pretentious, pedantic, stilted, stagy, theatrical, big-sounding, ad captandum, canting, insincere, not natural, unnatural, self-conscious, maniere, artificial, overwrought, overdone, overacted, euphuist, stiff, starch, formal, prim, smug, demure, tire a quatre epingles, quakerish, puritanical, prudish, pragmatical, priggish, conceited, coxcomical, foppish, dandified, finical, finikin, mincing, simpering, namby-pamby, sentimental, conceit in weakest bodies strongest works.