If you describe someone, usually a young woman, as demure, you mean they are quiet and rather shy, usually in a way that you like and find appealing, and behave very correctly.
[approval]
She's very demure and sweet.
Synonyms: shy, reserved, modest, retiring More Synonyms of demure
demurelyadverb [usually ADVERB with verb]
She smiled demurely.
2. adjective [usually ADJECTIVE noun]
Demure clothes do not reveal your body and they give the impression that you are shy and behave correctly.
[written]
...a demure high-necked white blouse.
demurelyadverb [ADVERB -ed, ADVERB after verb]
She was demurely dressed in a black woollen suit.
More Synonyms of demure
demure in British English
(dɪˈmjʊə)
adjective
1.
sedate; decorous; reserved
2.
affectedly modest or prim; coy
Derived forms
demurely (deˈmurely)
adverb
demureness (deˈmureness)
noun
Word origin
C14: perhaps from Old French demorer to delay, linger; perhaps influenced by meur ripe, mature
demure in American English
(dɪˈmjʊr)
adjective
1.
decorous; modest; reserved
2.
affectedly modest or shy; coy
SIMILAR WORDS: shy
Derived forms
demurely (deˈmurely)
adverb
demureness (deˈmureness)
noun
Word origin
ME demur < de- (prob. intens.) + mur < OFr mëur, ripe, mature < L maturus, mature
Examples of 'demure' in a sentence
demure
This season is apparently about looking demure in a dress.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
Indeed, the website looks positively demure.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
I suppose all mums like their daughters to look demure and mine is no different.
The Sun (2013)
He is quiet and demure.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
1 (adjective)
Definition
quiet, reserved, and rather shy
As a child I was very demure and sweet.
Synonyms
shy
He is painfully shy when it comes to talking to new people.
reserved
He was unemotional and reserved.
modest
He's modest, as well as being a great player.
retiring
I'm still that shy, retiring little girl.
reticent
unassuming
She has a gentle, unassuming manner.
diffident
The new employee was diffident and reserved in meetings.
decorous
Opposites
forward
,
brash
,
brazen
,
shameless
,
impudent
,
immodest
2 (adjective)
a demure middle-aged librarian
Synonyms
coy
a coy smile
prim
We tend to imagine that the Victorians were very prim and proper.
bashful
a bashful child
prudish
His novels are not for prudish readers.
prissy (informal)
the prissy and puritanical heroine of the novel
strait-laced
He was criticized for being boring, strait-laced and narrow-minded.
affected
priggish
He was a priggish, self-righteous little sneak.
niminy-piminy
Additional synonyms
in the sense of bashful
Definition
shy or modest
a bashful child
Synonyms
shy,
reserved,
retiring,
nervous,
modest,
shrinking,
blushing,
constrained,
timid,
self-conscious,
coy,
reticent,
self-effacing,
aw-shucks (slang, US),
diffident,
sheepish,
mousy,
timorous (literary),
abashed,
shamefaced,
easily embarrassed,
overmodest
in the sense of diffident
Definition
lacking self-confidence
The new employee was diffident and reserved in meetings.