2026

Demure

//dɪˈmjʊɹ//

Definitions

adjdemurer · demurest

1
Modest, quiet, reserved, or serious.
She is a demure young lady.
Similar
retiring shy sober
2
Affectedly modest, decorous, or serious; making a show of gravity.
Miss Lizzy, I have no doubt, would be as demure and coquettish, as if ten winters more had gone over her head.
Similar
coy

verbdemures · demuring · demured

1
To look demurely.
Your Wife Octavia, with her modeſt eyes, / […] ſhall acquire no Honour / Demuring vpon me:

Word Origin

Inherited from Middle English demure, demwre, an abbreviation of Anglo-Norman de mure port (“with a mature demeanor”) (compare Old French meur from Latin mātūrus): *si il seyt coy e de mure port (Amur...

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