demure

4 definitions found

demure - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Demure \De*mure"\ (d[-e]*m[=u]r"), a. [Perh. from OF. de murs
     (i. e., de bonnes murs of good manners); de of + murs, mours,
     meurs, mors, F. m[oe]urs, fr. L. mores (sing. mos) manners,
     morals (see Moral); or more prob. fr. OF. me["u]r, F.
     m[^u]r mature, ripe (see Mature) in a phrase preceded by
     de, as de m[^u]re conduite of mature conduct.]
     1. Of sober or serious mien; composed and decorous in
        bearing; of modest look; staid; grave.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Sober, steadfast, and demure.         --Milton.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Nan was very much delighted in her demure way, and
              that delight showed itself in her face and in her
              clear bright eyes.                    --W. Black.
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     2. Affectedly modest, decorous, or serious; making a show of
        gravity.
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              A cat lay, and looked so demure, as if there had
              been neither life nor soul in her.    --L'Estrange.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Miss Lizzy, I have no doubt, would be as demure and
              coquettish, as if ten winters more had gone over her
              head.                                 --Miss
                                                    Mitford.
        [1913 Webster]

  Demure \De*mure"\, v. i.
     To look demurely. [Obs.] --Shak.
     [1913 Webster]

demure - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  demure
      adj 1: affectedly modest or shy especially in a playful or
             provocative way [syn: coy, demure, overmodest]

demure - Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 :

  67 Moby Thesaurus words for "demure":
     Quakerish, Victorian, backward, bashful, censorious, close,
     confused, conscious, coy, decent, decorous, diffident, earnest,
     formal, frowning, grave, grim, grim-faced, grim-visaged, hidebound,
     inarticulate, long-faced, mid-Victorian, modest, mousy, narrow,
     nice, old-maidish, overmodest, priggish, prim, proper, prudish,
     puritanical, reserved, reticent, retiring, sanctimonious, sedate,
     seemly, self-conscious, serious, shamefaced, shamefast, shy,
     silent, skittish, smug, sober, sober-minded, sobersided, solemn,
     somber, staid, stammering, stiff-necked, stone-faced,
     straight-faced, straitlaced, stuffy, thoughtful, timid, timorous,
     unassertive, unassured, unsmiling, weighty