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driven

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be (as) pure as the driven snow

To be virtuous and/or chaste. The bride looked as pure as the driven snow in her gown. Kate would never cheat on an exam—she's pure as the driven snow.

See also: driven, pure, snow

*pure as the driven snow

pure and chaste. (Often used ironically. *Also: as ~.) Jill: Sue must have gone to bed with every man in town. Jane: And I always thought she was as pure as the driven snow. Robert was notoriously promiscuous, but tried to convince all his girlfriends that he was pure as the driven snow.

See also: driven, pure, snow

*white as a sheet

 and *white as a ghost; *white as snow; *white as the driven snow

[of someone] extremely pale, as if frightened. (*Also: as ~.) Marilyn turned as white as a sheet when the policeman told her that her son had been in a car wreck. Did something scare you? You're white as a sheet! Jane made up the bed with her best linen sheets, which are always as white as snow. We have a new kitten whose fur is white as the driven snow.

See also: sheet, white

be as pure as the driven snow

to be morally good How dare he criticize me for having an affair? He's not exactly as pure as the driven snow himself.

See also: driven, pure, snow

pure as the driven snow

Morally unsullied, chaste, as in She's just sixteen and pure as the driven snow. This simile dates from the late 1500s, although driven, which means "carried by the wind into drifts," was occasionally omitted. It is heard less often today.

See also: driven, pure, snow

white as a sheet

Very pale in the face, as in She was white as a sheet after that near encounter. This simile, dating from about 1600, survives despite the fact that bedsheets now come in all colors.

See also: sheet, white