What's the difference between demure and sober?

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.

Sober


Definition:

  • (superl.) Temperate in the use of spirituous liquors; habitually temperate; as, a sober man.
  • (superl.) Not intoxicated or excited by spirituous liquors; as, the sot may at times be sober.
  • (superl.) Not mad or insane; not wild, visionary, or heated with passion; exercising cool, dispassionate reason; self-controlled; self-possessed.
  • (superl.) Not proceeding from, or attended with, passion; calm; as, sober judgment; a man in his sober senses.
  • (superl.) Serious or subdued in demeanor, habit, appearance, or color; solemn; grave; sedate.
  • (v. t.) To make sober.
  • (v. i.) To become sober; -- often with down.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) It's typically sober and elegant, and Cotillard excels in a nervy, vulnerable role.
  • (2) Read Rachel’s full story Facebook Twitter Pinterest Chris Owen: ‘I’ve been sober for six years now, and I don’t miss alcohol.’ Photograph: Graeme Robertson for the Guardian I spent my 20s playing Russian roulette with alcohol The NHS has been there time and time again for Chris Owen, who battled alcoholism throughout his 20s.
  • (3) Anthony Wells, director of YouGov’s political and social research team, said: “While there will be speculation about whether this movement is connected to the tragic death of Jo Cox, we do not think that it is... We are now in the final week of the referendum campaign and the swing back towards the status quo appears to be in full force.” EU referendum voters unconvinced by scare tactics: ‘I just want to do what’s right’ Read more Today, both sides will resume their battle to capture the votes of the undecided and to persuade people to switch sides, though both the Leave and Remain camps say that the manner of their campaigning will be more sober and less combative.
  • (4) Previous research has found a relationship between increased quantity of alcohol usually consumed per drinking occasion and decreased sober cognitive performance.
  • (5) "Yet the sobering fact remains that a transition to a low-carbon, inclusive green economy is happening far too slowly and the opportunity for meeting the 44 gigatonne target is narrowing annually," Steiner said.
  • (6) The haemostatic imbalance normalizes within two or three weeks of soberness while the immune system requires about two months to recover.
  • (7) Chambers claims she became extremely intoxicated while her ex-boyfriend remained much more sober, and says she has no memory of him having sex with her that night.
  • (8) Therefore, the presence of pulmonary emboli in association with sagittal sinus thrombosis mandates a sober assessment of the need of anticoagulation therapy in the absence of obvious contraindication.
  • (9) Mutual intoxication was a feature in 44% of the cases and in 34% both participants were sober.
  • (10) Impulsive and bonhomous, Saakashvili, meanwhile, is clearly the temperamental opposite of Putin, the sober and clinical former KGB colonel.
  • (11) Barton rubs Old Firm up the wrong way Joey Barton apologises ‘unreservedly’ after being sent home by Rangers Read more The phrase “Joey Barton Twitter storm” is pretty much a tautology, so it was no surprise that his decision to sign for Rangers in May had social media in a kerfuffle when his 2012 tweet – “I am a Celtic fan” – was dredged up so that it might be subject to calm and sober scrutiny from all concerned.
  • (12) And yet here I am today, a sober, emancipated, successful and happy woman.
  • (13) After all, on any sober calculation of relative sins, HSBC's dealings with Mexican drug bandits were surely several leagues more serious than other banks' Libor-rigging scandals.
  • (14) In the swinging 1960s, Peck's sober style seemed a little out of place, though he appeared in a couple of flashy Hitchcockian thrillers, Mirage (1965) and Arabesque (1966), and adapted to the new Hollywood as best he could, looking rather bothered as the father of a demon in The Omen (1976).
  • (15) Alcoholics reported more anger and aggression when drinking than when sober and this effect was greatest among individuals with a history of childhood aggression.
  • (16) She observed soberly that "the moment human beings lacked their own government and had to fall back upon their minimum rights, no authority was left to protect them and no institution was willing to guarantee them … Loss of national rights was identical with loss of human rights … The rights of man, supposedly inalienable, proved to be unenforceable … whenever people appeared who were no longer citizens of any sovereign state."
  • (17) It's not the most groundbreaking piece of research, but I did find it both instructive and sobering.
  • (18) In a year that will be punctuated by sober reflection and a series of commemorative occasions, it is tempting to assume a certain inevitability to events, especially when looking at them through the prism of hindsight.
  • (19) Even in alcoholics who have been sober for a long time, increased cardiac output is very common and these changes are similar to those seen in some patients with labile hypertension.
  • (20) He was a vegan, sober, nonsexual God-botherer partying in the blood-soaked Meatpacking District with the sex-and-druggers.