Yes, that's how it's mostly used today. But here are some dictionary definitions.
OED (I've cut the examples)
> prude, a. and n.
> A. adj. That maintains or affects extreme propriety of speech and behaviour, especially in regard to the relations of the sexes; excessively modest, demure, or prim; prudish: usually applied adversely. Now rare.
[...]
> prude, a. and n.
> (pru?d)[a. mod.F. prude adj. and n., said of a woman in same sense as the Eng. (Molière in Littré), in OF. prude, prode, preude, in a laudatory sense, good, virtuous, modest, respectable; either a back-formation from prudefemme (cf. prudhomme) or a later fem. form of prod, pro, pru: see preux, prow a.]
>prude, a. and n.
> B. n. A woman who maintains or affects excessive modesty or propriety in conduct or speech; one who is of extreme propriety: usually applied adversely with implication of affectation.
[...]
> prude, a. and n.
> Hence 'prudelike a., of the nature of, or characteristic of, a prude; 'prudely adv., in the manner of a prude.
[...]
> prude, v.
> intr. To conduct oneself in the manner of a prude; to act prudishly. Hence 'pruding vbl. n.
Websters Revised (1913):
> Prude \Prude\, n. [F., prudish, originally, discreet, modest;
> shortened from OF. prudefeme, preudefeme, a discreet or excellent woman; OF. preu, prou, excellent, brave + de of + fete woman. See {Prow}, a., {Prowess}.] A woman of affected modesty, reserve, or coyness; one who is overscrupulous or sensitive; one who affects extraordinary prudence in conduct and speech.
Chambers:
> prude /prood/
> noun
> 1. A person of priggish or affected modesty
> 2. Someone who has or pretends to have extreme propriety
Alternately, they could be arguing that "prudery" that originates from a project of improving societal morality is not necessarily a bad thing.
The definition you propose applies a modern, negative connotation to "prude" that is certainly present in the English language, but there could also be more sympathetic interpretations of the same characteristic ("innocent" and "straight-laced" and "proper" come to mind).
I definitely was not. "Courageous", "adventurous", "risk-taking", "reckless", "impudent", "bold", "daring", but with something that would mean "...almost and even to a fault or own peril", but without an inherent negative moral connotation is what I was looking for.
> risqué meaning ‘risked’ (a verb, not an adjective)
No. "risqué" is also an adjective denoting that something involves risks (like "risky" in English) or that a statement is licentious, shocking (like "risqué" in English).
I think the right phrase here might have passed out of our vocabulary during a long recent period of extreme permissiveness. It's ungentlemanlike to speak of such things.
I would have used the term "vigilant" instead of "litigious". There is much less connotation of barratry, shakedowns, and other distasteful activities.
> it can be easy to get caught out by licensing requirements
promiscuous |pr?'miskyo?o?s|
2. demonstrating or implying an undiscriminating or unselective approach; indiscriminate or casual: "the city fathers were promiscuous with their honours."
• consisting of a wide range of different things: Americans are free to pick and choose from a promiscuous array of values and behaviour.
Hardly sexist. In this context I was referring to the more flexible and less restrictive use of models. See the comment threads on the original post for additional detail.
If you really want to raise that subject I can highly recommend a few good E3 video game trailers for you to comment on. ;P
If "tortuous" didn't already have a completely different useful meaning, I wouldn't object. Calling harmful behavior "tortious" shouldn't be ambiguous. I'm not sure what happened in olden times, but over the last decade "tortuous" has dominated because of clueless spellcheck.
> They are every bit as meretricious and dedicated to building defect-free systems as engineers in any other discipline.
I think you may have meant "meticulous."
Meretricious: 1. alluring by a show of flashy or vulgar attractions; tawdry. 2. based on pretense, deception, or insincerity. 3. pertaining to or characteristic of a prostitute. [1]
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