‖ demi-vierge
(dəmivjɛrʒ)
Also demi-virgin.
[Fr. (Les demi-vierges, title of novel by M. Prévost, 1894).]
A woman (esp. a young woman) of doubtful reputation or suspected unchastity, who is not a virgin except in the strict physiological sense of the word (virgin 2). Also fig.
| 1908 Westm. Gaz. 14 Nov. 6/2 Scandal-mongering elders, vain, selfish, dissipated officers, and equally vain, selfish young ladies approximating closely to the demi-vierge. 1928 D. H. Lawrence Lady Chatterley ii. 17, I hope, Connie, you won't let circumstances force you into being a demi-vierge. 1937 Times Lit. Suppl. 27 Nov. 910/1 A more spiteful cat of a demivierge heroine has seldom adorned a novel. 1951 Koestler Age of Longing i. viii. 132 We call demi-vierges a certain category of intellectuals who flirt with revolution and violence, while trying to remain chaste liberals at the same time. 1953 R. Chandler Long Good-Bye xiii. 84 A couple of streamlined demi-virgins went by. |