demure

demure

adjective

Definition of DEMURE

1

affecting shyness or modesty in order to attract masculine interest <the previously demure maiden began making some surprisingly shocking remarks>

Synonyms coquettish, demure, kittenish

Related Words flirtatious, flirty, girlish; goody-goody, governessy, overmodest, priggish, prim, prudish

Antonyms uncoy

2

not comfortable around people <hesitant and demure, she hardly spoke a word at the banquet table>

Synonyms backward, bashful, coy, demure, diffident, introverted, modest, recessive, retiring, self-effacing, sheepish, withdrawn

Related Words antisocial, lone, lone-wolf, unsociable, unsocial; awkward, embarrassed, self-conscious, unadventurous, unassertive, unenterprising; inhibited, reserved, uneasy, uptight

Near Antonyms boon, clubbable (also clubable), companionable, convivial, gregarious, sociable, social; bold, dashing, forceful; brash, forward, overbold, uninhibited, unreserved

Antonyms extroverted (also extraverted), immodest, outgoing

3

not having or showing any feelings of superiority, self-assertiveness, or showiness <wore a very demure outfit to the interview for the job at the church's headquarters>

Synonyms demure, down-to-earth, lowly, meek, modest, unassuming, unpretentious

Related Words acquiescent, compliant, deferential, resigned, submissive, unaggressive, unassertive, yielding; cowering, cringing, shrinking; ingenuous, naive (or na{iuml}ve), plain, simple, unaffected; bashful, diffident, introverted, mousy (or mousey), overmodest, passive, quiet, reserved, retiring, sheepish, shy, subdued, timid, unobtrusive; aw-shucks, self-deprecating, self-deprecatory, self-effacing

Near Antonyms aggressive, assertive, audacious, bold, brash, brassy, cheeky, forward, impertinent, impudent, saucy; cocksure, cocky, confident, hubristic, overconfident, self-confident; egocentric, egoistic (also egoistical), narcissistic, prideful, self-affected, self-centered, self-complacent, self-conceited, self-congratulatory, self-contented, self-engrossed, self-important, self-obsessed, self-pleased, self-satisfied, smug, stuck-up, swelled-headed; boastful, bombastic, braggy, swaggering, vain, vainglorious; condescending, disdainful, dominant, dominating, domineering, magisterial, overbearing, patronizing, pontificating; flamboyant, ostentatious, showy; extroverted (also extraverted), immodest, outgoing, uninhibited, unreserved

Antonyms arrogant, bumptious, chesty, conceited, egotistic (or egotistical), fastuous, haughty, highfalutin (also hifalutin), high-and-mighty, high-handed, high-hat, hoity-toity, huffish, huffy, imperious, lordly, overweening, peremptory, pompous, presuming, presumptuous, pretentious, self-asserting, self-assertive, supercilious, superior, toplofty (also toploftical), uppish, uppity