Simper

//ˈsɪmpə// name, noun, verb

name, noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1
A foolish, frivolous, self-conscious, or affected smile; a smirk.
"Yes, another world it was, when these black ruins, white in their new mortar and fresh chiselling, first saw the sun as walls, long ago. Gauge not, with thy dilettante compasses, with that placid dilettante simper, the Heaven's—Watchtower of our Fathers, the fallen God's—Houses, the Golgotha of true Souls departed!"
2
a silly self-conscious smile wordnet

Verb

1
To smile in a foolish, frivolous, self-conscious, coy, obsequious, or smug manner. intransitive
"How the fools kotowed and simpered while I looked over their jewels and speculated upon how much I could get for them!"
2
smile affectedly or derisively wordnet
3
To glimmer; to twinkle. obsolete
"Yet can I mark how stars above / Simper and shine."

Proper Noun

1
A surname.

Synonyms

smirk affected beam bridle bright smile broad grin

Example

"How the fools kotowed and simpered while I looked over their jewels and speculated upon how much I could get for them!"

Etymology

Etymology 1

Uncertain; compare (probably from) Danish simper / semper (“coy”), German zimper (“elegant, dainty”).

Etymology 2

Variant of Semper.

Related phrases

simper out dogs whine self conscious shit eating grin

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.