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DEMURENESS
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Dictionary entry overview: What does demureness mean?
• DEMURENESS (noun)
The noun DEMURENESS has 2 senses:
1. the trait of behaving with reserve and decorum
2. the affectation of being demure in a provocative way
Familiarity information: DEMURENESS used as a noun is rare.
Dictionary entry details
Sense 1
Meaning:
The trait of behaving with reserve and decorum
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("demureness" is a kind of...):
modesty; reserve (formality and propriety of manner)
Derivation:
demure (affectedly modest or shy especially in a playful or provocative way)
Sense 2
Meaning:
The affectation of being demure in a provocative way
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Synonyms:
coyness; demureness
Hypernyms ("demureness" is a kind of...):
affectedness (the quality of being false or artificial (as to impress others))
Derivation:
demure (affectedly modest or shy especially in a playful or provocative way)
Context examples
And here she closed her harangue: a long one for her, and uttered with the demureness of a Quakeress.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
| Learn English with... Proverbs |
"Do not be shy of whom is shameless." (Albanian proverb)
"When you are dead, your sister's tears will dry as time goes on, your widow's tears will cease in another's arms, but your mother will mourn you until she dies." (Arabic proverb)
"Still waters wash out banks." (Czech proverb)