demure

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demure

/dɪˈmjʊə(ɹ)/ UK
/dəˈmjɔː(ɹ)/ British, Southern, Standard
/dɪˈmjɵː(ɹ)/ British, Southern, Standard
/dɪˈmjʊə(ɹ)/ British, Southern, Standard
/dɪˈmjʊɹ/ US
/dɪˈmjɔɹ/ US
/dəˈmjʊə(ɹ)/ Australia
/dəˈmjʉə(ɹ)/ New Zealand

Rhymes with -ʊə(ɹ)

Where it comes from

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”).

adjective demurer · demurest

of a woman Modest, quiet, reserved, or serious. She is a demure young lady.
Similar: retiring, shy, sober, austere, frightful, demure, serious, grave, earnest, grievous, lack-laughter, thoughtful
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

verb demures · demuring · demured

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

Translations

Every language

adj modest, quiet, reserved

Español	recatado, comedido, modoso
한국어	얌전하다 yamjeonhada, 조용하다 joyonghada
日本語	大人しやか otonashiyaka, ひかえめ hikaeme
中文	嫻靜 /娴静 xiánjìng, 斯文 sīwén, 矜持 jīnchí
Português	recatado, modesto, reservado
Français	réservé, discret, sobre, sérieux
Deutsch	zurückhaltend, ernst, sittsam
Italiano	pudico, riservato
Ελληνικά	χαμηλοθώρης chamilothóris, χαμηλοβλεπούσα chamilovlepoúsa
Русский	скро́мный skrómnyj, серьёзный serʹjóznyj, сде́ржанный sdéržannyj, ти́хий tíxij

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MLA

"demure." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/demure. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

demure. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/demure

Chicago

"demure." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/demure.

BibTeX

@misc{demure_2026,
  title = {demure},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/demure},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}