Puritan

n. [From pure.] 1. (Eng. Church.) One who opposed traditional and formal usages, in the time of Queen Elizabeth, and advocated a simpler form of faith and worship than that which was established by law; originally, a term of reproach. The Puritans were afterward distinguished as Political Puritans, Doctrinal Puritans, and Puritans in Discipline. Hume. 2. One who is scrupulous and strict in his religious life;—used reproachfully or in contempt. She would make a Puritan of the devil. Shak. 3. One who sympathizes with the views of the early Puritans.