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)

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• Audio (AU)

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Distinguish from pronunciation of demur

• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)
• Rhymes: -ʊə(ɹ)

Adjective

demure (comparative demurer, superlative demurest)

1. (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^[1]:

     [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^[2], →ISSN:

     And in their daily lives, girls and women are pushed to conform to fairly narrow templates of behavior as demure or delicate.

2. 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.

Derived terms

• as demure as a whore at a christening
• demurely
• demureness

Translations

modest, quiet, reserved

• Armenian: համեստ (hy) (hamest), լուրջ (hy) (lurǰ), ծանրաբարո (hy) (canrabaro)
• Bulgarian: сериозен (bg) (seriozen), скромен (bg) (skromen)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 嫻靜／娴静 (zh) (xiánjìng)

• Czech: ostýchavý m
• Dutch: bescheiden (nl), beschaafd (nl), keurig (nl), netjes (nl)
• Estonian: tagasihoidlik
• Finnish: kaino (fi)
• French: réservé (fr), discret (fr), sobre (fr), sérieux (fr)
• Georgian: თავმდაბალი (tavmdabali)
• German: zurückhaltend (de), ernst (de), sittsam (de) (dated)
• Greek: χαμηλοθώρης (el) m (chamilothóris), χαμηλοβλεπούσα (el) f (chamilovlepoúsa)
• Hungarian: tartózkodó (hu), visszafogott (hu), diszkrét (hu), komoly (hu), szolid (hu)
• Irish: stuama
• Italian: pudico (it) m, riservato (it) m
• Kazakh: сыпайы (sypaiy), сабырлы (sabyrly), ұстамды (ūstamdy)
• Korean: 얌전하다 (yamjeonhada), 조용하다 (ko) (joyonghada)
• Middle English: demure, mure
• Portuguese: reservado (pt)
• Russian: скро́мный (ru) (skrómnyj) (modest), серьёзный (ru) (serʹjóznyj) (serious), сде́ржанный (ru) (sdéržannyj) (reserved), ти́хий (ru) (tíxij) (quiet)
• Scottish Gaelic: stuama
• Spanish: modesto (es), reservado (es)

Verb

demure (third-person singular simple present demures, present participle demuring, simple past and past participle demured)

1. (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, [Act IV, scene xvi], page 363, column 2, line 30:

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

Middle English

Etymology 1

From de- +‎ mure.

Alternative forms

• demewre, demeur, demuer, demur, demwre, dimuir

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɛːˈmiu̯r/

Adjective

demure

1. 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

1. (rare) delay, waiting, stay

Related terms

• demuren

Descendants

• English: demur

References

• “dēmū̆re, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 3

Verb

demure

1. Alternative form of demuren