1. (a.) Of sober or serious mien; composed and decorous in bearing; Of modest look; staid; grave.

2. (a.) Affectedly modest, decorous, or serious; making a show of gravity.

3. (v. i.) To look demurely.

Quakerish Victorian backward bashful censorious close confused conscious coy decent decorous diffident earnest formal frowning grave grim grim-faced grim-visaged hidebound inarticulate long-faced mid-Victorian modest mousy narrow nice old-maidish overmodest priggish prim proper prudish puritanical reserved reticent retiring sanctimonious sedate seemly self-conscious serious shamefaced shamefast shy silent skittish smug sober sober-minded sobersided solemn somber staid stammering stiff-necked stone-faced straight-faced straitlaced stuffy thoughtful timid timorous unassertive unassured unsmiling weighty