demure
English
WOTD – 12 January 2009
Etymology
From Middle English demure, demwre, of uncertain formation, but probably from Old French meur (Modern French mûr) from Latin mātūrus. The "de-" is "of", as in "of maturity".
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /dɪˈmjʊə(ɹ)/
- (US) IPA(key): /dɪˈmjʊɹ/
Audio (US) (file) Audio (AU) (file)
- Distinguish from pronunciation of demur
- Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)
- Rhymes: -ʊə(ɹ)
Adjective
demure (comparative demurer, superlative demurest)
- (usually of women) Quiet, modest, reserved, sober, or serious.
- She is a demure young lady.
- 1881, William Black, The Beautiful Wretch
- Nan was very much delighted in her demure way, and that delight showed itself in her face and in her clear bright eyes.
- 2005, Maureen Dowd, Are Men Necessary?, →ISBN, page 311:
- I was coming back from the ladies' room when I saw her. She looked demure. Oval wire-rimmed glasses. A sky blue jacket buttoned over a long black-and-white flowered shirt.
- 2014 January 21, Hermione Hoby, “Julia Roberts interview for August: Osage County – 'I might actually go to hell for this …'”, in The Daily Telegraph:
- [H]owever hard she pushed the tough-talkin' shtick, she remained doe-eyed, glowing and somehow unassailably demure.
- 2021 June 30, Motoko Rich; Hikari Hida, “Expected to Be Demure, Japan’s Girls Face Steep Hurdles to Athletic Dreams”, in The New York Times, ISSN 0362-4331:
- And in their daily lives, girls and women are pushed to conform to fairly narrow templates of behavior as demure or delicate.
- Affectedly modest, decorous, or serious; making a show of gravity.
- c. 1824, Mary Russell Mitford, Walks in the Country
- Miss Lizzy, I have no doubt, would be as demure and coquettish, as if ten winters more had gone over her head.
- c. 1824, Mary Russell Mitford, Walks in the Country
Derived terms
- as demure as a whore at a christening
- demurely
- demureness
Translations
modest, quiet, reserved
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Verb
demure (third-person singular simple present demures, present participle demuring, simple past and past participle demured)
- (obsolete) To look demurely.
- c. 1606–1607, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act IV, scene xvi], line 30, page 363, column 2:
- Your Wife Octavia, with her modeſt eyes, / […] ſhall acquire no Honour / Demuring vpon me:
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Middle English
Etymology 1
From de- + mure.
Alternative forms
- demewre, demeur, demuer, demur, demwre, dimuir
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /dɛːˈmiu̯r/
Adjective
demure
- grave, serious, modest
Derived terms
- demurely
Descendants
- English: demure
- Scots: demure
References
- “dēmūr, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Etymology 2
From Old French demore, demure.
Alternative forms
- demere, demoere, demore
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /dɛːˈmeːr/, /dɛːˈmiu̯r/, /dɛːˈmur/
Noun
demure
- (rare) delay, waiting, stay
Related terms
- demuren
Descendants
- English: demur
References
- “dēmū̆re, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Verb
demure
- Alternative form of demuren