Dapper, a.
Etymology: [OE. daper; prob. fr. D. dapper brave, valiant; akin to G. tapfer brave, OHG. taphar heavy, weighty, OSlav. dobrû good, Russ. dobrui. Cf. Deft.]
Little and active; spruce; trim; smart; neat in dress or appearance; lively. He wondered how so many provinces could be held in subjection by such a dapper little man. Milton. The dapper ditties that I wont devise. Spenser. Sharp-nosed, dapper steam yachts. Julian Hawthorne.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for dapper; he lists it under neat.
Where he writes about it:
Dapper is spruce with the suggestion of smallness and slightness; natty, a diminutive of neat, suggests minute elegance, with a tendency toward the exquisite; as, a dapper little fellow in a natty business suit. — from neat