simpering

1 of 2

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

… spoofy moments featuring a simpering newswoman …

—Pauline Kael

… the indignities of office life, from boorish bosses to simpering middle managers to byzantine bureaucracies.

—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

simpering

2 of 2

present participle of simper entry 1

Examples of simpering in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

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

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

from present participle of simper entry 1

First Known Use

Adjective

1553, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for simpering

• whimpering