Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.

Definition: Demure |
DemureAdjective1. Affectedly modest or shy especially in a playful or provocative way. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "demure" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1350. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Slang in 1811 | DEMURE. As demure as an old whore at a christening. Source: 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Synonyms: DemureSynonyms: coy (adj), overmodest (adj). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Affectation | Stiff, starch, formal, prim, smug, demure, tire a quatre epingles, quakerish, puritanical, prudish, pragmatical, priggish, conceited, coxcomical, foppish, dandified; finical, finikin; mincing, simpering, namby-pamby, sentimental. |
Dejection | Serious, sedate, staid, stayed; grave as a judge, grave as an undertaker, grave as a mustard pot; sober, sober as a judge, solemn, demure; grim; grim-faced, grim-visaged; rueful, wan, long-faced. |
Excitability | Adjective: inexcitable, unexcitable; imperturbable; unsusceptible; (insensible); unpassionate, dispassionate; cold-blooded, irritable; enduring; Verb: stoical, Platonic, philosophic, staid, stayed; sober, sober minded; grave; sober as a judge, grave as a judge; sedate, demure, cool-headed. |
Modesty | Out of countenance; (humbled). reserved, constrained, demure. |
Unbelief Doubt | Doubt; (uncertainty); skepticism, scepticism, misgiving, demure; distrust, mistrust, cynicism; misdoubt, suspicion, jealousy, scruple, qualm; onus probandi. |
Demure, stick at, pause, hesitate, scruple; stop to consider, waver. | |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Demure |
| English words defined with "demure": coyness ♦ demurely, demureness, Demurity ♦ grave accent ♦ Snod. (references) |
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Music |
|
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Author | Quotation |
John Milton | Come, pensive nun, devout and pure, sober steadfast, and demure, all in a robe of darkest grain, flowing with majestic train. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Title | Author | Quote |
Emma | Austen, Jane | He saw a short word prepared for Emma, and given to her with a look sly and demure. |
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man | Joyce, James | Girls demure and romping |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Demure" is generally used as an adjective (general or positive) -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "Demure" is used about 85 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Adjective (general or positive) | 100% | 85 | 35,870 |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day |
demure | 34 |
demure lady | 18 |
demure woman woman | 4 |
demure woman | 3 |
demure picture | 2 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "demure"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | serioz (bad, crying, deep, dress, earnest, grave, heavy, nasty, reliable, serious, solemn, weighty), modest (decent, decently, diffident, discreet, humble, lowly, modest, neat, quiet, unassertive, unobtrusive, unpretentious), i përmbajtur (aloof, composed, continent, controlled, cool-headed, decent, discreet, even tempered, modest, passionless, restrained, sedate, self-collected, sober minded, staid, stand off, strange, temperate, unaffable, undemonstrative), gjoja i hutuar, gjoja i druajtur. (various references) | |
Arabic | محتشم (bashful, chaste, coy, decent, decorous, honest, modest, reserved, shy), مترازن, متظاهر بالرزانة, رزين (calm, grave, level, level headed, matronly, portentous, sedate, serious, sober, sober minded, staid, stoical). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | скромен (abstemious, chaste, conservative, decent, decorous, frugal, humble, maidenlike, maidenly, mean, modest, obscure, quakerish, quiet, retiring, shamefaced, simple, small, unambitious, unassuming, unobtrusive, unpresuming, unpretending, unpretentious), въздържан (abstemious, inaccessible, incommunicative, moderate, self contained), престорено скромен. (various references) | |
Chinese | 娴静. (various references) | |
Czech | upejavý, stydlivý (bashful, cockshy, coy), skromný (abstemious, frugal, humble, limited, lowly, modest, reserved, retiring, unassuming, unpretentious), ostýchavý (backward, bashful, coy, diffident, prim, self conscious, shamefaced, shy). (various references) | |
Dutch | uitgestreken (academic), quasi-zedig, quasi-preuts. (various references) | |
Esperanto | kvazaŭpruda, kvazaŭdecmora, kvazaŭĉasta. (various references) | |
Farsi | موقر (Grave, Sedate, Sober, Solemn, Staid), محتاط (Cautious, Chary, Considerate, Gingerly, Scrupulous), متین (Douce, Placid, Sedate, Serene, Sober), سنگین (Burdensome, Cumbersome, Earnest, Grave, Heavy, Hefty, Laden, Lumpy, Onerous, Ponderous, Sober, Staid, Stodgy, Unwieldy, Weighty), جدی (Bonafide, Drastic, Earnest, Energetic, Grand, Rigid, Sedate, Serious, Solemn, Stickler, Uncanny). (various references) | |
Finnish | eleetön (expressionless, unassuming). (various references) | |
French | sage, modeste. (various references) | |
German | zimperlich (finicky, mincing, modest, nervous, prissy, prudish, puling, soft, squeamish). (various references) | |
Greek | σεμνόσ (bashful, decent, humble, maidenly, modest, unpretending), σεμνότυφοσ (priggish, prude, prudish, straitlaced, tight laced), σεμνός (coy, modest, unassuming), σοβαρόσ (burning, earnest, grave, important, matronal, matronly, saturnine, sedate, serious, sober, solemn, staid), μαζεμένος, χαμηλοβλέπων, φαινομενικά σεμνόσ. (various references) | |
Hebrew | מצט ע (prim, prudish), רצי י (deep, earnest, grave, important, serious, severe), צ וע (homely, humble, lowly, meek, modest, neat, prude, unassuming). (various references) | |
Hungarian | negédesen finomkodó, kiegyensúlyozott (balanced, consistent, equal, even tempered, even-minded, level, level-headed, steady, well balanced), illedelmes (comely, decent, decorous, mannered, proper, well-behaved, well-conducted), higgadt (collected, composed, cool-headed, even tempered, grave, impassible, imperturbable, level headed, level-headed, moderate, philosophical, placid, quiescent, sedate, self possessed, self-collected, self-possessed, serene, sober, sober-blooded, staid, unperturbed), álszemérmes (modest, prude, prudish). (various references) | |
Indonesian | berkeberatan (have objections). (various references) | |
Italian | schivo (averse, coy, reserved, retiring, shamefaced, shy), modesto (chaste, coy, diffident, homely, humble, inconspicuous, lowly, moderate, modest, plain, quiet, self-effacing, temperate, unassuming, unpretentious), contegnoso. (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 澄ます (look prim, put on, to be unruffled, to clear, to look demure, to look unconcerned, to make clear). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | すます (look prim, put on airs, to be unruffled, to clear, to conclude, to finish, to get along, to get it over with, to look demure, to look unconcerned, to make clear, to pay back, to settle). (various references) | |
Manx | nearildagh (ashamed, bashful, confused, coy, coy of girl, retiring, shy). (various references) | |
Norwegian | anstendig. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | emureday.(various references) | |
Portuguese | decente (comely, decent, decorous, honest, seemly), sério (abstemious, austere, convinced, earnest, fair, important, respectable, sedate, serious, severe, single-eyed, single-minded, sober, solemn, staid, stern, straight, straightaway, straightforward, temperate, thoughtful), reservado (aloof, box, cagey, chilly, close, closet, confidential, distant, exclusive, freezing, incommunicative, long run, non-committal, offish, particular, qualified, repulsive, reserved, reticent, retiring, secretive, self-contained, separate, shy, special, stand-off, stand-offish, taciturn, unamenable, uncommunicative, undemonstrative), modesto (blushful, coy, homely, humble, lowly, modest, plain, self-effacing, shamefaced, unassertive, unassuming, unostentatious, unpretending, unpretentious), acanhado (backward, diffluent, gauche, hidebound, narrow, poky, poor-spirited, scary, scrimpy, shamefaced, sheep-faced, sheepish, shy, skimpy, timid). (various references) | |
Romanian | de o modestie afectatã, sfios (backward, bashful, coy, faint-hearted, maiden, maidenlike, maidenly, meek, milky, mousy, retiring, self conscious, sheepish, shy, timid, timorous), serios (appreciable, earnest, earnestly, genuine, grave, gravely, grievously, important, in earnest, in good earnest, intimate, matronal, minded, reliable, sad, sedate, serious, serious minded, seriously, seriousness, severe, sober, solemn, solid, staid, steady, stern, valid, weighty, well-conducted), mofturos (dainty, fastidious, finical, finicking, fractious, Froward, humoursome, naughty, nice, particular, peevish, perverse, picky, qualmish, squeamish), modest (cheap, diffident, discreet, frugal, grave, homely, humble, humbly, low, lowly, maiden, maidenly, modest, plain, quakerish, quiet, retiring, simple, unassuming, unobtrusive, unpretending, unpretentious), afectat (affected, affectedly, Arty, curious, demurely, euphuistic, far fetched, finical, finicking, gushing, highfalutin, highfaluting, high-flown, lackadaisical, La-di-da, mannered, miminy-piminy, mincing, namby-pamby, niminy-piminy, preciously, pretty, primly, recherche, scenic, self conscious, stilted, studied, swollen, theatrical). (various references) | |
Russian | степенный;застенчивый, скромный (decent, hamble, humble, low life, mean, modest, self-effacing, unassertive, unassuming, unobtrusive, unostentatious, unpretending, unpretentious), сдержанный (chary, checked, continent, distant, frozen, guarded, modest, restrained, reticent, self-collected, stand off, stand offish, stand-offish, undemonstrative, unsociable). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | stidljiv (bashful, blushful, coy, shamefaced, shy, timid, trembly), povučen (aloof, coy, recluse, remote, reticent, retiring, undemonstrative, unobtrusive, withdrawn), izveštačeno ozbiljan. (various references) | |
Spanish | de una coquetería disimulada, solemne (ceremonial, conclusive, dignified, official, owlish, ritually, solemn, vow), serio (businesslike, dependable, earnest, heavy, meaningful, responsible, serious, serious minded, severe, sober, sober minded, staid, thinking, thoughtful, unsmiling), remilgado (mincing, old-maidish, prim, prissy, prude, squeamish), recatado (cautions, coy, gingerly, maidenly, prim), modoso (civilized), modesto (inconspicuous, lower, modest, modeste, retiring, unassuming, undemanding, unostentatious, unpretentious), grave (acute, alarming, bad, court, courtyard, deep, desperate, difficult, dignified, grave, grievous, grim, gross, heavy, important, low, lower, nasty, serious, severe, weighty, yard). (various references) | |
Swedish | pryd (coy, prude, prudish). (various references) | |
Turkish | sözde mahcup, ciddi (austere, businesslike, capital, critical, devout, earnest, eventful, forbidding, grave, gut, important, momentous, mortally, sedate, serious, sober, sober minded, solemn, staid, starched, unsmiling), ağırbaşlı (austere, calm, dignified, earnest, graceful, grand, imperturbable, matronly, only, sage, sedate, serious, sober, sober minded, solemn, staid), ölçülü (careful, conservative, continent, dimensional, level, measurable, measured, mensurable, moderate, restrained, size, sized, sober, sober minded, temperate), çekingen (backward, bashful, coy, diffident, distrustful of oneself, eunuch, faint, fainthearted, farouche, mousy, reserved, retiring, shrinking, shy, standoffish, timid, timorous, uncommunicative, unsociable, unsocial, withdrawn). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | стриманий (abstemious, abstentious, abstinent, ascetic, chary, chaste, checked, close, collected, composed, continent, coy, discreet, dry, guarded, low key, measured, offish, restrained, reticent, self controlled, self-composed, spartan, stand off, temperate, undemonstrative, well balanced), удавано сором'язливий, скромний (bashful, blushing, chaste, coy, decent, discreet, humble, lowly, maidenlike, maidenly, modest, nice, quiet, retiring, sedate, simple, spare, unobtrusive), серйозний (deep, earnest, serious, serious minded, solemn). (various references) | |
Vietnamese | nghiêm trang (matronal, matronlike, matronly, serious), bẽn lẽn (bashful, coy, shamefaced, sheepish, shily, shy, shyly, timid). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | maturus. (various references) |
| Old French | 900-1400 | meur. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "demure": demurely, demureness, demurenesses, demurer, demurest. (additional references) | |
| |
"Demure" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Dalmore, damire, Damiri, Damur, daumer, dejur, dejure, Delmore, demare, demear, demere, Demetri, Demeure, Demir, demire, demiur, demorr, demoure, Demoze, demurge, demurr, demuse, dendre, Dengra, dennure, denure, desmoret, Deurle, Dimitra, Dimitru, Dimove, dmeur, Domaru, Doumer, dumure, Dymmoke. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "demure" (pronounced di'myuh"r) |
| 3 | -y uh" r | buhr, cure, endure, immature, impure, inure, obscure, procure, pure, secure. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "d-e-e-m-r-u" | |
-1 letter: demur, merde, mured. | |
-2 letters: deem, deer, deme, dere, derm, dree, drum, dure, emeu, meed, mere, mure, rede, reed, rude, rued. | |
-3 letters: dee, due, eme, emu, ere, med, mud, red, ree, rem, rue, rum, urd. | |
-4 letters: de, ed, em, er, me, mu, re, um. | |
| Words containing the letters "d-e-e-m-r-u" | |
+1 letter: demurer, embrued, relumed, resumed, umbered. | |
+2 letters: bumpered, cumbered, demiurge, demurely, demurest, demurred, demurrer, embruted, lumbered, measured, murdered, murderee, murderer, mustered, muttered, numbered, perfumed, permuted, presumed, repumped, summered, udometer. | |
+3 letters: admeasure, credendum, demeanour, demiurges, demurrage, demurrers, deuterium, durometer, empurpled, enamoured, maundered, maunderer, mouldered, mufflered, murderees, murderers, murderess, murthered, numerated, reassumed, relumined, remounted, replumbed, slumbered, submerged, submersed, trumpeted, udometers, undermine, undreamed, unfreedom, unmerited, unmitered. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Images: Slideshow 6. Quotations: Familiar 7. Quotations: Fiction 8. Usage Frequency | 9. Expressions: Internet 10. Translations: Modern 11. Translations: Ancient 12. Derivations | 13. Rhymes 14. Anagrams 15. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.