What's the difference between demure and serious?

Demure


Definition:

  • (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.

Serious


Definition:

  • (a.) Grave in manner or disposition; earnest; thoughtful; solemn; not light, gay, or volatile.
  • (a.) Really intending what is said; being in earnest; not jesting or deceiving.
  • (a.) Important; weighty; not trifling; grave.
  • (a.) Hence, giving rise to apprehension; attended with danger; as, a serious injury.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) This should not be a serious limitation to the application of the RIA in the detection of venous thrombosis.
  • (2) But the wounding charge in 2010 has become Brown's creation of a structural hole in the budget, more serious than the cyclical hit which the recession made in tax receipts, at least 4% of GDP.
  • (3) "There is a serious risk that a deal will be agreed between rich countries and tax havens that would leave poor countries out in the cold.
  • (4) Confidence is the major prerequisite for a doctor to be able to help his seriously ill patient.
  • (5) No report can be taken seriously if its authors weren’t even in Yemen to conduct investigations.” The UN team was not given permission to enter the country.
  • (6) The decline in the frequency of serious complications was primarily due to a decrease in the proportion of patients with open fractures treated with plate osteosynthesis from nearly 50% to 19%.
  • (7) Vancomycin is the antibiotic of choice for serious MRSA infections; PRPs and cephalosporins generally are not effective.
  • (8) An age- and education-matched group of women with no family history of FXS was asked to predict the seriousness of problems they might encounter were they to bear a child with a handicapping condition.
  • (9) The most serious complications following operative treatment are retained bile duct calculi (2.8%), wound infection and biliary fistulae.
  • (10) Guardian Australia reported last week that morale at the national laboratory had fallen dramatically, with one in three staff “seriously considering” leaving their jobs in the wake of the cuts.
  • (11) In case of biliary and pancreatic duct obstruction with pure pancreatic reflux, both oedema and inflammatory infiltrations were evident, whereas, in the presence of biliary reflux too, more serious histological features were detected.
  • (12) Autopsy revealed serious somatic diseases (stenosis of the ileum in two cases and brain tumor in one); their symptoms had been largely overlapped by those of anorexia nervosa.
  • (13) The above treatment is tolerated well and no serious side effects have been observed.
  • (14) This observation seriously challenges the hypothesis that SCE cancellation results as a consequence of persistence of the lesions induced by these agents.
  • (15) Earlier recognition of foul-smelling mucoid discharge on the IUD tail, or abnormal bleeding, or both, as a sign of early pelvic infection, followed by removal of the IUD and institution of appropriate antibiotic therapy, might prevent the more serious sequelae of pelvic inflammation.
  • (16) Left ventricular rupture is a serious complication of mitral valve replacement.
  • (17) Other serious complications were reservoir perforation during catheterisation in 3 and development of stones in the reservoir in 2 patients.
  • (18) For application to mammalian cells, however, two serious problems require resolution: (1), correction of TPP+ binding to intracellular constituents and (2), estimation of the considerable TPP+ accumulation in mitochondria.
  • (19) At least 1 episode of serious infection occurred in 34 of the 60 adult patients and 25 of the 30 children.
  • (20) These high Danish rates seem to reflect the true prevalence and incidence in the less serious types of progressive muscular dystrophy, probably because the Danish health system with free medical care and easy access to specialized hospital departments makes it possible to identify all cases of progressive muscular dystrophy.