SIMPER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does simper mean? 

• SIMPER (noun)
  The noun SIMPER has 1 sense:

1. a silly self-conscious smile

  Familiarity information: SIMPER used as a noun is very rare.

• SIMPER (verb)
  The verb SIMPER has 1 sense:

1. smile affectedly or derisively

  Familiarity information: SIMPER used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SIMPER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A silly self-conscious smile

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("simper" is a kind of...):

grin; grinning; smile; smiling (a facial expression characterized by turning up the corners of the mouth; usually shows pleasure or amusement)

• SIMPER (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they simper    ... he / she / it simpers   
Past simple: simpered   
Past participle: simpered   
-ing form: simpering   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Smile affectedly or derisively

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

simper; smirk

Hypernyms (to "simper" is one way to...):

smile (change one's facial expression by spreading the lips, often to signal pleasure)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "simper"):

fleer (to smirk contemptuously)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

simperer (a smiler whose smile is silly and self-conscious and sometimes coy)

 Context examples 

“Perhaps,” Mr. Dick simpered, after thinking a little, “she did it for pleasure.”

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

He simpers, and smirks, and makes love to us all.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

Then forming his features into a set smile, and affectedly softening his voice, he added, with a simpering air, “Have you been long in Bath, madam?”

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

He saw the weak and sickly faces of the girls of the factories, and the simpering, boisterous girls from the south of Market.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

There now, said Miss Steele, affectedly simpering, everybody laughs at me so about the Doctor, and I cannot think why.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

Yes, ma'am, indeed, replied the other, with a stately simper, there will be some satisfaction in looking on now, and I think it was rather a pity they should have been obliged to part.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

Don't stop to quirk your little finger and simper over your plate, Amy, cried Jo, choking on her tea and dropping her bread, butter side down, on the carpet in her haste to get at the treat.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Agnes, whom I should have liked to take myself, was given to a simpering fellow with weak legs.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Kitty simpered and smiled, and hoped her turn was coming soon.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

So upon that, he smirked, and simpered, and looked grave, and seemed to know something or other, and at last he said in a whisper, 'For fear any unpleasant report should reach the young ladies under your care as to their sister's indisposition, I think it advisable to say, that I believe there is no great reason for alarm; I hope Mrs. Dashwood will do very well.'

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)