demureness

plural demurenesses

1. uncountableusuallyThe state or quality of being demure.

   “Don’t be coy. Haven’t I sent you nice gifts? Haven’t I been sweet to you? You play at demureness, but now? Why him? Why not me?”

   2016, C Pam Zhang, How Much of These Hills Is Gold, Virago, page 222

   1 more example

   She would laugh, high and loud, and the shopkeepers would laugh with her, their laughter softer than hers, a thoughtful demureness that was mindful of the fact that she was the customer […] and therefore should not be upstaged.

   2009, Chika Unigwe, On Black Sisters’ Street, Vintage (2010), pages 257-258