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Webster 1913 Edition

Dapper

Dap′per

,
Adj.
[OE.
daper
; prob. fr. D.
dapper
brave, valiant; akin to G.
tapfer
brave, OHG.
taphar
heavy, weighty, OSlav.
dobrŭ
good, Russ.
dobrui
. Cf.
Deft
.]
Little and active; spruce; trim; smart; neat in dress or appearance; lively.
He wondered how so many provinces could be held in subjection by such a
dapper
little man.
Milton.
The
dapper
ditties that I wont devise.
Spenser.
Sharp-nosed,
dapper
steam yachts.
Julian Hawthorne.

Webster 1828 Edition

Dapper

DAP'PER

,
Adj.
Active; nimble; brisk; or little and active; neat; tight; as a dapper fellow; a dapper spark.

Definition 2025

dapper

dapper

English

Adjective

dapper ‎(comparative dapperer, superlative dapperest)

  1. Neat, trim.
    • 1892, Henry Seton Merriman, The Slave Of The Lamp:
      This entrance is through a little courtyard, in which is the stable and coach-house combined, where Madame Perinere, a lady who paints the magic word "Modes" beneath her name on the door-post of number seventeen, keeps the dapper little cart and pony which carry her bonnets to the farthest corner of Paris.
  2. Stylishly dressed, neatly dressed, spiffy.
    • 1917, P. G. Wodehouse, The Man With Two Left Feet:
      Going down the street, you would meet a typical commercial traveller, dapper and alert.

Derived terms

Translations

Anagrams

Afrikaans

Adjective

dapper ‎(attributive dappere, comparative dapperder, superlative dapperste)

  1. brave, courageous

Dutch

Pronunciation

Etymology

From Middle Dutch dapper, from Old Dutch *dappar, from Proto-Germanic *dapraz.

Adjective

dapper ‎(comparative dapperder, superlative dapperst)

  1. brave, courageous

Inflection

Inflection of dapper
uninflected dapper
inflected dappere
comparative dapperder
positive comparative superlative
predicative/adverbial dapper dapperder het dapperst
het dapperste
indefinite m./f. sing. dappere dapperdere dapperste
n. sing. dapper dapperder dapperste
plural dappere dapperdere dapperste
definite dappere dapperdere dapperste
partitive dappers dapperders —

Etymology

From Middle English daper ‎(“pretty, neat”), from Middle Dutch dapper ‎(“stalwart, nimble”), Old Dutch *dapar, from Proto-Germanic *dapraz ‎(“stout; solid; heavy; bold”) (compare German tapfer "bold", Norwegian daper "saddened, dreary"), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeb- ‘thick, heavy’ (compare Tocharian A tpär ‘high’, Latvian dàbls ‘strong’, Serbo-Croatian дебео ‎(dèbeo) ‘fat’).

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈdæpə(ɹ)/
  • Rhymes: -æpə(r)

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