Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Modest and reserved in manner or behavior.
- adjective Characterized by or suggestive of reserve or modesty.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To look with reserve or bashfulness.
- Sober; grave; modest; formally decorous: as, a demure look.
- Affectedly modest; making a demonstration of gravity or decorum.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- intransitive verb obsolete To look demurely.
- adjective Of sober or serious mien; composed and decorous in bearing; of modest look; staid; grave.
- adjective Affectedly modest, decorous, or serious; making a show of gravity.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective
Quiet ,modest ,reserved ,sober , orserious . - verb obsolete To
look demurely.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective affectedly modest or shy especially in a playful or provocative way
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Above his head, Jasmine curls her body into a Scorpion, her expression demure, bordering on bashful.
Cheer! Kate Torgovnick 2008
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Above his head, Jasmine curls her body into a Scorpion, her expression demure, bordering on bashful.
Cheer! Kate Torgovnick 2008
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All that tenderest care and kindest heart could suggest was done to make me comfortable by my kind hosts; and the cavalcade of retainers, with which I had come out so gayly, followed in demure silence.
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McCain makes the Bush daughters look demure, which is a shame: we had so much hope for them taking over their father's mantle, but McCain looks like she will be fun too.
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She actually envied the simplicity of Lucy Morris, for whom she delighted to find evil names, calling her demure, a prig, a sly puss, and so on.
The Eustace Diamonds 1873
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She actually envied the simplicity of Lucy Morris, for whom she delighted to find evil names, calling her demure, a prig, a sly puss, and so on.
The Eustace Diamonds Trollope, Anthony, 1815-1882 1872
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Morris, for whom she delighted to find evil names, calling her demure, a prig, a sly puss, and so on.
The Eustace Diamonds Anthony Trollope 1848
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Both very, very -- kind of demure and kind of quiet.
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It peeps out, even in the most serious passages, in a kind of demure rebellion against the fanaticism of his remorseless intelligence.
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In repose, it had a look of having just finished saying something humorous, a kind of demure appreciation of itself.
Piccadilly Jim 1928
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