demure
/dɪˈmjʊɹ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 2.56 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "She is a demure young lady."
- "Nan was very much delighted in her demure way, and that delight showed itself in her face and in her clear bright eyes."
- "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."
- "[H]owever hard she pushed the tough-talkin' shtick, she remained doe-eyed, glowing and somehow unassailably demure."
- "And in their daily lives, girls and women are pushed to conform to fairly narrow templates of behavior as demure or delicate."
- "Miss Lizzy, I have no doubt, would be as demure and coquettish, as if ten winters more had gone over her head."
Etymology
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 curteiz) (“he sits quietly and with a mature appearance”) * Documents illustrating the history of Scotland, CLV, 1306, Orders for the custody of Scottish prisoners, CLV: …et que eles soient de bon et meur port (“…with a good and mature demeanor”) * mss. Arundel, 220: ke cely qe vus amerez soyt de gentil manere, coy, de meure porture (“with a mature demeanor”) * (Monastic rule): de aunciene dame de meure porture ke pusse les plus ieuenes rieueler e endoctriner (“an old lady with a mature demeanor able to rule and educate the young girls”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /dɪˈmjʊɹ/
- British English: /dɪˈmjʊə(ɹ)/