(a.) Of sober or serious mien; composed and decorous in bearing; of modest look; staid; grave.
(a.) Affectedly modest, decorous, or serious; making a show of gravity.
(v. i.) To look demurely.
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.
Rueful
Definition:
(a.) Causing one to rue or lament; woeful; mournful; sorrowful.
(a.) Expressing sorrow.
Example Sentences:
(1) There was always a rueful melancholy, stiffened by irony and leavened by humour about him.
(2) All subcultures have their references, which for insiders carry a complex set of feelings: the comfort of belonging and shutting out outsiders, mixed with a rueful, ironic self-awareness.
(3) She was characterised by her very specific sense of failure, which was rueful but nonchalant at the same time: Pearson's iconic image had Kate Reddy smashing up shop-bought mince pies to make them look as though she'd made them herself.
(4) Seven Oscar failures was a rueful glory he shared for a while with his old pal, Richard Burton.
(5) Yet as news filtered through from White Hart Lane that Gareth Bale had finally scored for Tottenham, Wenger - who offered Jack Wilshere a late cameo -looked rueful when Walcott's shot rebounded benignly off a post and relieved as Olivier Giroud made a surprisingly effective tackle to deny Ben Arfa.
(6) "You never say never to a warrior like him," said a rueful colleague, but against a lacklustre mayor and unpopular government, a heavy hitter with less baggage might have done better.
(7) Garde looked rueful but resigned, though the FA Cup is not the biggest battle last year’s runners-up face this season, and everyone seemed to know it.
(8) To be honest I feel rather self-conscious about my size,” Tshabalala told me with a rueful smile.
(9) It's a rueful acknowledgement of human frailty and opposition talent - eg.
(10) It is his film in disguise, the one that got away; a rueful critique of an oppressive regime and a heartfelt salute to the creative impulse that will not be quashed.
(11) Grimes took the stage for her concession speech with a rueful look and as much emotion as she showed on the campaign trail, thanking her family, the other Democratic politicians who stumped for her, her staff and her supporters.
(12) In the first chapter of Pride and Prejudice , his joke about his wife not accompanying his daughters to meet Mr Bingley lest he "like you the best of the party" has a hint of ruefulness.
(13) Written by Tim Firth and directed by Daniel Evans, it’s a rueful, magical look at the pleasures and perils of family life.
(14) You have to get out there and earn it and that’s what I’m trying to do.” On a rueful note, she added: “If I had to do it again, I would have used a separate email account.
(15) And here is the twist: in the last of the conventionally numbered chapters we find out that our hero (brave, rueful, suffering) is not the man we thought he was.
(16) He gave a rueful smile and replied: “I think enjoy is the wrong word.
(17) "Nobody knew about The Artist until it appeared in Cannes," he recalls, with a reflex ruefulness.
(18) At another point there is the rueful admission: “But perhaps I am now too dangerous to associate with!” Mostly it is more tiresome than dangerous.
(19) Some people who know the work will go, ‘hang on’, but generally speaking it’s the same people doing fairly much the same stuff.” The rueful smile again.
(20) Each team retained its pride and the visitors can be content with a stalemate on hostile terrain but Sir Alex Ferguson may be rueful that Chelsea have eased four points clear of them.