Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun An extremely conventional or priggish person.
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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I mean a lady you don't know much about, called Mrs. Grundy; and a gentleman whom you know as much of as you want to know, called Policeman A.
The Measure of a Man Amelia Edith Huddleston Barr 1875
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Now, my dear Mrs. Grundy, that is very different from going to his house to see the
From the Easy Chair — Volume 01 George William Curtis 1858
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Dombey was anxious that Mrs. Trotter should take it to her own home, but, as "Mrs. Grundy" had already been discussing her movements, she dare not, without fear of ruining her children, take the baby under the roof.
The Mysteries of Montreal Being Recollections of a Female Physician Charlotte Fuhrer
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In defiance of 'Mrs. Grundy' he ventured to maintain that the words 'music-hall' and
Victorian Worthies Sixteen Biographies George Henry Blore
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"Mrs. Grundy" said that the young lady would have refused him.
History of the University of North Carolina. Volume I: From its Beginning to the Death of President Swain, 1789-1868 Kemp Plummer 1907
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Whoever doctored the second verse of the original song -- I heard it credited to "Mrs. Grundy" by a grandnephew of Burns -- whoever it was, he had apparently no knowledge of this portrait, for you all know he has given Annie a "dark _blue_ e'e."
McClure's Magazine December, 1895 Ida M. Tarbell 1900
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Chinese who cramp their toes, we have only to look at the deformities of fashion amongst ourselves, to see that the reign of "Mrs. Grundy" is universal.
Character Samuel Smiles 1858
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"Mrs. Grundy" may be a very vulgar and commonplace personage, her influence is nevertheless prodigious.
Character Samuel Smiles 1858
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"Mrs. Grundy," in the play, is but an impersonation of the conventionalism of the world.
Thrift Samuel Smiles 1858
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[Illustration] "Mrs. Grundy" is the modern name of Spenser's "Blatant
Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction and the Drama, Vol. 1 A Revised American Edition of the Reader's Handbook Ebenezer Cobham Brewer 1853
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