What is demure? Who started it? TikTok trend goes viral...again

Let's just say this new trend is anything but demure.

If you've scrolled through social media lately, you've probably heard the word being used-- a lot. 

No, it's not a new word, nor is it slang. 

In fact, the word has been used for nearly seven centuries (according to Merriam-Webster).

What is the demure trend?

"You see how I do my makeup for work? Very demure, very mindful," Jools Lebron, @joolieannie on TikTok says in the video that has since gone viral. 

The video posted by Jools, on Aug. 5,  has garnered over 35 million views on TikTok and arguably has everyone saying it. 

Regardless of your interests or your following, the word demure has completely inundated everyday life. 

According to Merriam-Webster, the word demure means modest, reserved, or serious. 

 "I don't look like a clown when I go to work. I don't do too much. I'm very mindful while I'm at work," Jools says, describing the word demure as the way one should carry themselves to work. 

"The way I came to the interview is the way I came to the job," Jools explains. 

What isn't considered demure? One might ask. 

"A lot of you girls go to the interview looking like Marge Simpson and go to the job like Patty and Selma. Not demure," Jools says, referring to the two major antagonists from "The Simpsons" show that smoke cigarettes for a living. 

Jools goes on to give more advice on how one should dress and behave when they go to work, describing demure as the standard of how one should carry themselves. 

Since the viral video, Lebron’s videos have gotten the attention of Google, e.l.f. Cosmetics, United Airlines, and celebrities like Khloe Kardashian and Jennifer Lopez.

"Be mindful of why they hired you," Jools went on. 

 A hashtag for the trend #demure has been used nearly a million times with interest in the hashtag soaring since Aug. 5, per TikTok analytics.

Even some of FOX 5 NY's own participated in the trend.

Demure original video controversy

Another reason for the trend's virality is based on arguments around who actually started the trend. 

The heated debate began when another creator, Selyna, @trapselena on TikTok claimed to have made the original video back in 2021. 

The search term "original demure video" is listed on nearly every video regarding demure because of this. 

Selyn has accused Jools of stealing the "demure" trend from her, claiming that "the whole demure trend is something I made back in 2020-2021." 

However, many users have come to Jools' defense saying that the video went viral because of how it was done. 

"It hits different," one comment read, meaning that the likeness of Jools' video is the reason it went viral. 

Other users argue that it's an English word that everyone should be able to use freely. 

"Demure is an English word…Jools jokes with it," one comment with nearly 60,000 likes read. 

Others say that the word is part of Ball culture and the Ballroom scene, which is an underground LGBTQ+ subculture with origins in drag performances. 

How to use the word ‘demure’ in a sentence

In 1985, the word was used in Anna Russels' autobiography titled "I'm Not Making this Up You Know." She wrote:" I made a lot of friends at Les Tourelles with whom I have kept in touch over the years. There was one darling little girl, much younger than the rest of us, who was sweet, demure, and quiet, with beautiful long hair like Alice in Wonderland."

In a 2001 Cosmopolitan article, Elizabeth Hayt wrote:" So, even if you think you've moved past your reputation as The Rebel, two minutes after getting together with your more demure sister, you're likely to fall back into that hell-raiser role.

Other words for demure

• Coy
• Modest
• Meek
• Kittenish
• Unassuming
• Reserved
• Quiet
• Mindful

 Gen Alpha slang words

• Sigma: good/cool
• Beta: weak
• Skibidi: bad
• Mewing: looking good
• Fanum tax: stealing food
• Sus: weird/suspicious
• Negative aura: not cool
• Mad lit: stylishen Z and Gen Alpha and is a shortened version of the word "charisma."