What's the difference between demure and somber?

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.

Somber


Definition:

  • (v. t.) Alt. of Sombre
  • (a.) Alt. of Sombre
  • (n.) Alt. of Sombre

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Melanomas developed on giant pigmented naevi had a particularly somber prognosis: death occurred within 6, 7 and 3 months respectively in the 3 cases observed.
  • (2) Uncompleted mourning and the depression and somber states of mind it created were absorbed by their children from birth on.
  • (3) In these very old people with very somber prognosis, anemia was corrected by surgery without recurrence after 8 and 10 months respectively.
  • (4) If Trump seems strangely incapable of consistency except in the matter of walling out and deporting immigrants, somber Ted Cruz is lurking nearby to alarm us with his ideological purity.
  • (5) Although most readers consider medical publications to be somber and somnifacient, a critical eye will discover a remarkable array of absurdities and assorted other oddities, totally unintended by the authors.
  • (6) Almost every report on macular degeneration begins with a somber reminder that macular degeneration is the single most common cause of blindness in the elderly in the United States and Europe.
  • (7) 'A lot of the movements to combat violence against women are somber.
  • (8) Coronary lesions with atheromatous deposits occurring in later childhood characterize homozygous type IIa hypercholesterolaemia and condition the somber prognosis of a disease which affects one subject in a million.
  • (9) The statement read: It is with a heavy heart and somber mind that we remember and honor the victims, survivors, heroes of the Holocaust.
  • (10) The day after the election, I walked around the camp and it was really somber,” said Kandi Mossett, a member of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara tribes who has been camping at Standing Rock since mid-August.
  • (11) The mood was somber, and many people wiped away tears.
  • (12) She suggests that the question for anyone considering standing for the US presidency should be: “What’s your vision for America?” Then she supplies her own answer: “The challenge is to lead in a way that unites us again and renews the American Dream … Ultimately, what happens in 2016 should be about what kind of future Americans want for themselves and their children – and grandchildren.” The start of the book is more somber.
  • (13) Since President Barack Obama took office, there have been at least 16 major mass shootings, after which he has offered somber words of condolence and called for national healing.
  • (14) In 1811 Mary Reynolds, a somber Pennsylvania spinster, awoke from a prolonged sleep as a new personality.
  • (15) This discussion forms the basis of a review of the worldwide literature, but stresses two problems which determine the prognosis: that of diagnosis, which in the majority of cases is very late, and that of their prognosis, which remains somber because of their tendency to metastasize by blood-borne spread and that of locoregional recurrences.
  • (16) In a strong but somber voice, McDonnell told the judge before sentencing that he was “a heartbroken and humbled man” and that he holds himself accountable.
  • (17) In other essays, she tries to educate a caddish boyfriend by sharing wisdom from He’s Just Not That Into You , and unexpectedly surrenders to the madness of wedding gown shopping, in which “dresses are brought out from back rooms with somber reverence, like the Torah being revealed from the ark”.
  • (18) She did not answer a question about whether Trump did not want to offend people, saying only: “It was our honor to issue a statement in remembrance of this important day.” In its original statement, the White House said: “It is with a heavy heart and somber mind that we remember and honor the victims, survivors, heroes of the Holocaust .
  • (19) At the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 369 hall in Louisville, where supporters had hoped to celebrate a Grimes win, the mood quickly turned somber: one minute, a few young employees were playing stickball while waiting for the party to start, and the next the hall was empty, as the few people who had arrived before the race was called went up to the war room to commiserate and watch the results of the statehouse races.
  • (20) Despite significant advances in many areas, the morbidity and mortality statistics remain as somber reminders of the devastation attributed to this epidemic.