adjective
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neat and spruce in dress and bearing; trim
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small and nimble
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of dapper
1400–50; late Middle English daper < Middle Dutch dapper nimble, stalwart; cognate with German tapfer brave
Explanation
A neatly and stylishly dressed man can be described as dapper. If you like to wear a well-made fedora, you appreciate clothes. Place a brightly colored feather in the brim and you’re dapper. Dapper is a Germanic word coming from a Middle Dutch word that meant "strong," "quick," or "nimble." Think of the words dashing, jaunty and spiffy when you think of dapper as these are all near synonyms. All of these words are used specifically to describe men. Although there doesn't seem to be a parallel term for a well-dressed woman, if you call her chic or stylish, she will be pleased.
Vocabulary lists containing dapper
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "D"
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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.
But Eddie was the father that Daphne loved most, and the reunion—Eddie is now a dapper, personable gentleman of 76—has left both deeply emotional and eager to reconnect.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 29, 2026
Take, for instance, the dapper child who grimaces squarely at the camera with a wad of cash in his hands.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 1, 2026
Looking dapper in a pink tux, the star dedicated his prize to "everyone in this room who believes in the power of black music".
From BBC • Feb. 2, 2026
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
Kurtsinger, dapper in Riddle’s legendary black and yellow silks, leapt onto his back, and again War Admiral flung himself around, bucking and thrashing and tearing divots out of the Belmont lawn.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
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.
