simpering
adjective
sim·per·ing
ˈsim-p(ə-)riŋ 
: marked by insipidity or by affected or ingratiating timidity
simpering behavior
a simpering smile/tone
During job interviews, I always felt like a simpering idiot.—
Nancy Scott Hanway
Nancy Scott Hanway… spoofy moments featuring a simpering newswoman …—Pauline Kael
Pauline Kael… the indignities of office life, from boorish bosses to simpering middle managers to byzantine bureaucracies.—Charles Bramesco
Charles Bramesco
simperingly
adverb
What a relief to meet a heroine who was not so simperingly, crushingly perfect and pretty as most of the approved Pollyannas we encountered in conventional fiction!
—Michele Landsberg
Michele Landsberg
Examples of simpering in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Whether this is also the outcome for Hozier’s simpering reprobate is up for the listener to decide.
—Tom Zoellner, SPIN, 29 May 2024
The Crown has become too simpering, and has suffered for that reverence.
—Louis Staples, Rolling Stone, 18 Nov. 2023
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Tom Zoellner, SPIN, 29 May 2024
The Crown has become too simpering, and has suffered for that reverence.
—Louis Staples, Rolling Stone, 18 Nov. 2023
Cite this Entry
“Simpering.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/simpering. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.
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