(v. i.) To delay; to pause; to suspend proceedings or judgment in view of a doubt or difficulty; to hesitate; to put off the determination or conclusion of an affair.
(v. i.) To scruple or object; to take exception; as, I demur to that statement.
(v. i.) To interpose a demurrer. See Demurrer, 2.
(v. t.) To suspend judgment concerning; to doubt of or hesitate about.
(v. t.) To cause delay to; to put off.
(v. i.) Stop; pause; hesitation as to proceeding; suspense of decision or action; scruple.
Example Sentences:
(1) His monstrous wardrobe, his entourages of 300 or 400 ferried in four aeroplanes, his huge bedouin tent, complete with accompanying camel, pitched in public parks or in the grounds of five-star hotels – and his bodyguards of gun-toting young women, who, though by no means hiding their charms beneath demure Islamic veils, were all supposedly virgins, and sworn to give their lives for their leader.
(2) When the time came for Mayer to give a speech, she demurred for a moment before standing.
(3) Strange then that among my generation of friends, adolescent in the early 1980s, there was a sort of discretion verging on the demure when it came to discussing contraception.
(4) Pressed on whether the upheaval has reached him, Frost repeatedly, if unsurprisingly, demurs.
(5) I’d ask that, instead of demanding black voters’ unquestioning loyalty to Sanders, they interrogate what racism is before demurring to a class analysis that still leaves my working-class family members dead in the street.
(6) The Villa clamours for attention on the waterfront, the embarrassingly shouty younger sibling of its more demure neighbour, the Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations (Mucem).
(7) Pressed in an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in mid-October, he demurred.
(8) Asked by the Associated Press whether her instant fame had led her to think about higher political office – there has been speculation she could run against Perry for the governor's mansion or attempt to gain a Texas seat in the US senate – she demurred.
(9) Asked directly if it was fair to say that Obama has been a better president for America than Putin has been for Russia, Cornyn demurred: “I’m not gonna go down that path.” Bob Corker, the senator from Tennessee who chairs the Senate foreign relations committee, also initially said he was no longer responding to each one of Trump’s controversial statements.
(10) The Pope liked Benedictines and told Hume, when he demurred at the appointment, that he was asking him to accept "the call of the Lord."
(11) This has gone from being a matter of curiosity, and a matter of politics, to being a national security issue.” Trump demurred on Wednesday when asked if he would release his tax returns before the November election, saying it was “not a big deal” and that he had released 104 pages of documents related to his business dealings.
(12) The three Alexander McQueen outfits that made the most front pages from the Duchess of Cambridge's recent tour wardrobe were: a sky blue belted knee-length coat, accessorised with navy round-toe suede shoes and a matching clutch bag; a demure dove grey coat with a jaunty grey hat; and a ballet-shoe pink peplum top and skirt, which the duchess wore with LK Bennett courts and pearl drop earrings.
(13) Upon learning that an internal campaign memo had instructed surrogates to demur on questions about Trump University, Trump said in a conference call on Monday that they instead should attack journalists who raised the point.
(14) The alternative would be to break out of character at the end, and demurely ask for money – which, again, would rather break the spell.
(15) Accommodation was provided by Le Manoir in Gemenos (doubles from €90 a night), Domaine de Valbrillant in Meyreuil (from €75) and Le Demure Insoupconnée in Cassis (from €130).
(16) He has generally been seen as a Labour supporter and doesn't demur when I mention that perception, so would the coming of a Conservative government next year present problems for him?
(17) If the Italian is seen as high maintenance his appointment is also regarded as a high-stakes gamble on Short's part, but Di Canio demurred.
(18) "We should put a spit up his ass," said Susan Hennesy, a demure-looking software engineer who works a few blocks away.
(19) Bankers are seen as greedy, librarians as demure, journalists as sleazy, nurses as angels and estate agents as dishonest.
(20) That may have come as a surprise to the assembled dignitaries, but of course none demurred.
Gainsay
Definition:
(v. t.) To contradict; to deny; to controvert; to dispute; to forbid.
Example Sentences:
(1) It responded to all who predicted the chaos now engulfing us like an unscrupulous pundit who knows that his living depends on shutting up the experts who gainsay him.
(2) Azerbaijan As yet a non-aligned Eurovision nation Who would gainsay the chances of the plucky Azeris, who have only been in Eurovision for two years and so are relative innocents in this grubby pseudo-musical farce?
(3) It was impossible to gainsay David Moyes, when he insisted: "It wasn't even a free-kick."
(4) For Israel, he was the unregenerate terrorist; and Washington would not gainsay its protege.
(5) And that means gainsaying the administration’s hesitant Syria policy and throwing credit to the McCains, Kings and Grahams who said that we should have been arming those rebels all along.