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Synonyms

dapper

American  
[dap-er] / ˈdæp ər /

adjective

  1. neat; trim; smart.

    He looked very dapper in his new suit.
    Synonyms:
    natty, jaunty, modish, spruce

  2. lively and brisk.

    to walk with a dapper step.

  3. small and active.

dapper British  
/ ˈdæpə /

adjective

  1. neat and spruce in dress and bearing; trim

  2. small and nimble

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • dapperly adverb
  • dapperness noun
  • undapper adjective

Etymology

Origin of dapper

1400–50; late Middle English daper < Middle Dutch dapper nimble, stalwart; cognate with German tapfer brave

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Safra brought in Juan Santa Cruz, a dapper banker turned restaurateur, to oversee the project, which includes a co-working space called Colette.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 9, 2026

So all of a sudden it’s like, “Wait, that’s the same guy. Now he’s looking dapper with a mid-Atlantic accent.”

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 11, 2025

The broadcast drama series, which also airs on Hulu, centers special agent Trent: a dapper investigator whose instinctual crime-solving skills render him essential to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 2, 2025

It is very dapper for a straight man, but it couldn't be more boring for Tan France.

From Salon • Mar. 13, 2025

On the last day of February 1941, a dapper little Gestapo man comes to him with the news that the unwitting Dupont has tried to use the forged tickets.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.