Simper
['sɪmpə] or ['sɪmpɚ]
Definition
(v. i.) To smile in a silly, affected, or conceited manner.
(v. i.) To glimmer; to twinkle.
(n.) A constrained, self-conscious smile; an affected, silly smile; a smirk.
Checked by Dick
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. n. Smile (affectedly), smirk.
n. Smirk, affected smile.
Checked by Dolores
Definition
v.i. to smile in a silly affected manner.—n. a silly or affected smile.—n. Sim′perer one who simpers.—adj. Simp′ering.—adv. Sim′peringly in a simpering manner: with a foolish smile.
Typed by Deirdre
Examples
- As for Tapeworm, the Charge d'Affaires, he rose up in his box and bowed and simpered, as if he would represent the whole empire. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- She simpered a little, affected extreme vexation and hesitation, and at last arrived at the conclusion that she supposed she must go. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- Kitty simpered and smiled, and hoped her turn was coming soon. Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice.
- She was not fascinated, only puzzled, by his grinning, his simpering, his scented cambric handkerchief, and his high-heeled lacquered boots. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- Come, said another, let me untie your ugly mask; we are all so tired of looking at the nasty simpering expression of it. Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- There now, said Miss Steele, affectedly simpering, everybody laughs at me so about the Doctor, and I cannot think why. Jane Austen. Sense and Sensibility.
- Agnes, whom I should have liked to take myself, was given to a simpering fellow with weak legs. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- Lydgate's conceit was of the arrogant sort, never simpering, never impertinent, but massive in its claims and benevolently contemptuous. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- He simpers, and smirks, and makes love to us all. Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice.
Typist: Margery