dapper

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[edit] English

[edit] Etymology

Middle English dapper from Middle Dutch dapper "stalwart, nimble" from Old Dutch *dappar from Proto-Germanic *dapraz (“heavy, sad”) from Proto-Indo-European *dheb- (“thick, big, heavy”). Akin to Old High German tapfar "heavy, weighty" (German tapfer "resolute, courageous"), Old Norse dapr "saddened, dreary", Middle Low German dapper "weighty, earnest, diligent".

[edit] Pronunciation

(UK) IPA: /dæpə(ɹ)/ SAMPA: /d{p@(r\)/
Rhymes: -æpə(r)

[edit] Adjective

dapper (comparative more dapper, superlative most dapper)

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.
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.