demure

英 [d?'mj??; d?'mj??] 美[d?'mj?r]

GRE暢通詞匯

副詞:?demurely;

demure 端莊

來(lái)自法語(yǔ)，of mature, 用來(lái)指成熟的女人，引申詞義端莊。

demure: demure: [14] Etymologically, someone who is demure is quiet and settled, not agitated. The word comes from demore, the past participle of Old French demorer ‘stay’ (source of English demur), and so semantically is a parallel formation to staid. One of its earliest recorded uses in English was actually to describe the sea as ‘calm’, and it was not until the late 17th century that its modern slightly pejorative connotations of coyness began to emerge.
=> demur
demure (adj.): late 14c. (early 14c. as a surname), from Old French meur "mature, fully grown, ripe," hence "discreet," from Latin maturus "mature" (see mature (v.)) [OED]. The de- in this word is of uncertain meaning. Or possibly from Anglo-French demuré (Old French demoré), past participle of demorer "stay," and influenced by meur [Barnhart]. Or from Old French de (bon) murs "of good manners," from murs (Modern French moeurs) [Klein].

1. The luscious Miss Wharton gave me a demure but knowing smile.: 性感迷人的沃頓小姐對(duì)我羞澀地會(huì)心一笑。

4. There she was , grey - suited , sweet - faced , demure, but scowling.: 她就在那里, 穿著灰色的衣服, 漂亮的臉上顯得嚴(yán)肅而憂(yōu)郁.

5. Rather pale she looked and Londony; and her blue eyes were demure.: 她臉上帶點(diǎn)蒼白,而且十足倫敦派頭; 蘭眼睛顯得很端莊.